Before the annual Double 11 Singles' Day, CGTN interviewed Mark, a Dutchman who has been working at an agricultural company in Chifeng, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for over four years. He shared with CGTN his experience on Taobao, China's biggest online shopping platform, and his family's stories with Chinese products.

The following are excerpts from the interview. Sections have been edited for clarity.

CGTN: Will you shop more on Double 11?

Mark: I basically do not shop on Double 11, and I also try not to buy too many things during other days either. If I spend time on Taobao, I see lots of interesting things I want to buy. But in the end, I think it's better to consider well upfront whether one will actually use it. I prefer to consume less and have less stuff, which simply means one should buy less. So, therefore, it is better to not have a look at Taobao for the coming days. This website is really good at seducing people to buy things, even though I would not consider myself susceptible to Chinese marketing.

Another reason for not buying anything on Taobao in the coming week is that the whole parcel delivery chain in China will be overheated. So, there is a higher chance of things getting lost or damaged during this period.

CGTN: What kind of products do you usually buy on Taobao?

Mark: Last year, I bought some shirts, but sizes are an issue for me over here. When I buy a shirt in the Netherlands, it would be a size M (medium) or L (large). Over here, I bought shirts with size XXL, and then it might still be too small. But sometimes I buy something according to the same size, after which it turns out to be way too big. So, the non-uniformity of sizes in China is a difficulty for me when buying clothes on Taobao. It would be nice if Chinese clothes would have the EU-standard for sizes, then it would be much easier for me. For shops originating from Europe, like H&M, this is already the case but for local brands not yet, unfortunately.

As Dutch people love to cycle, I also buy quite some things related to my bicycle. Like for instance, bicycle lights – safety is important when cycling on the streets of Chifeng at night – and lubricant for the chain or gloves when it's cold. These kinds of things can also be bought in physical shops over here, but it is much easier for me to find what I am looking for on Taobao, and there is also much more available to choose from.

It is a pity that while living in Inner Mongolia, Taobao shops, in general, charge much more for delivery or sometimes even do not want to send out goods. Chifeng is relatively close to Beijing and is a big city nowadays. It will also be connected to China's high-speed rail network in the coming year. I actually think Chifeng is closer to Beijing by car than, for instance, Shenyang or Dalian.

The last time I sent something from Chifeng to Beijing, it only cost me 10 yuan ( about 1.40 U. S. dollars), which is a normal price. But when I bought a suitcase from a Taobao store last year, I was charged an additional fee of 120 yuan (about 16.76 U.S. dollars) while delivery to any place in Liaoning or even Heilongjiang would be free. We, people in Inner Mongolia, sometimes feel we are being abused by some Taobao shops that charge much more even though the additional cost for delivery here is negligible or even nonexistent.

CGTN: How about your friends? Do they use online shopping platforms in China？

Mark: In the past, I was the only one using Taobao among my Dutch colleagues over here because they didn't know any Chinese, and I was the only one who could read a little. So sometimes I ordered things for them. When I was not here, they just went to the local shops. But they didn't buy that much, as products like clothes are quite different in the shops over here compared to shops in the Netherlands.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was in Beijing and went to a Xiaomi store. He bought a robot vacuum cleaner and took it back to the Netherlands. It was much cheaper to buy it over here, China. I offered to order it for him on Taobao but being able to have a look at the machine in the store before buying also has advantages.

In the Netherlands, we do not use Taobao but AliExpress, which is also part of Alibaba. My sister sometimes orders things from it. The website has similarities with Taobao but targets consumers in Europe; their things are then shipped to them from China. I never ordered anything from AliExpress, as I live in China, but it seems it has become quite popular to order from it in the Netherlands nowadays.

In the past year, there was even a carnival song about AliExpress. Being in the Netherlands during carnival, my Dutch friends were joking that the song was about me. As I work in China and the song's lyrics are about "receiving a delivery from AliExpress," they joked that I was back in the Netherlands to deliver the parcels they ordered on AliExpress to them.

The song is in Dutch and is basically about the fact that people like to receive parcels from AliExpress and open it. Every time they receive a parcel, it is like they are receiving a present.

CGTN: You said there are a lot of interesting things on Taobao. Except things related to your bicycle and clothes, what else have you bought online?

Mark: When I sometimes go back to the Netherlands, I often buy presents I consider to be useful for my family from Taobao. For my mother, I ordered flower seeds, in total already more than 1,000 yuan worth, from a Taobao shop located in Gansu Province. During the past summer, she realized I brought her so many seeds that her garden is too small. Her garden is already very large, as my parents live on a farm. She also realized she doesn't have enough time to grow all the plants from the seeds I brought her, as she is also taking care of the calves at the farm.

For my parents and brother, who are running the dairy farm, I bought equipment on Taobao like network cameras. My brother and I installed these so that they can, for instance, check on their telephone how a cow that is supposed to give birth soon is doing. When they are not in the stable, they can easily check whether or not they need to go and help the cow to give birth. These kinds of cameras can also be bought in the Netherlands, but are in general much cheaper on Taobao. A disadvantage of buying these kinds of things on Taobao is that all the manuals and settings are in Chinese only. But since I know some basic Chinese, I normally know how to fix it.

Other cameras I bought on Taobao were installed at the rear end of the tractor. This was done so that my father has a clear view while he is reversing the feed mixer to feed the cows. He would normally have a blind spot, but now he can check whether everything is safe and there are not any obstacles in his driving path.

One of the last things I bought on Taobao for the farm was a simple amplifier so the cows in the stable of the dairy farm can listen to the radio while they are being milked by the milking robot or when they are lying down ruminating grass.

For my sister's children, I bought some traditional Mongolian clothes. They normally wear them during carnival or other events in which it is appropriate to wear them.