Gold and jade dominate the counters in HGH T3
Near several domestic gates in Terminal T3, Jewelry Corner runs like most mainland airport jewellery counters: lots of gold, plenty of jade, and pricing that tracks the daily gold rate plus a making fee. Expect presentation cases of 24K pieces and jade cabochons rather than international designer brands. Hours aren’t clearly posted, but shops in this area typically open from early morning departures through the last evening flights in T3.
Gold items sit under signs listing purity (often 999 or 999.9) and a digital board with the day’s per‑gram price in RMB. Staff then quote a separate making fee, which is where the airport premium shows up compared with Hangzhou city jewellers on Wulin Road. Forum regulars say prices here run “no cheaper than in the city,” especially on fashionable designs that also appear in urban malls.
Jade and gemstone pieces at Jewelry Corner are trickier. You’ll see polished bangles, pendants, and beaded bracelets, many in red presentation boxes aimed at family gifts and holidays like Spring Festival or Mid‑Autumn. Unlike gold, there’s no live “per gram” benchmark on the counter, and several Chinese travellers online warn against dropping thousands of RMB on jade here without expert knowledge or certificates you can independently verify back in Hangzhou.
Most locals keep airport spends small: zodiac‑animal charms, tiny gold pendants in the 1–3 gram range, or simple bracelets when they forgot a gift in town. Haggling is minimal compared with city shops, and detailed explanations about purity, making fees, or stone grading are often only in Chinese. Quick tip: before saying yes, check live gold quotes on your phone and compare them to the store’s posted base price plus the per‑gram making fee.