Lai Ying Music

This is my first Unilocal review and the catch to this is: this store is the reason I’ve decided to create an account on Unilocal.
For true music collectors, Lai Ying is a gift and also a place to embrace, for as much as I can tell, it is the only place left in Chinatown that has chosen integrity over profit. After a day of walking through Chinatown music shops, this is the only store that doesn’t sell bootleg albums and DVDs, and as much as there are reviews that say that the collection there is not extremely complete, this store is much better than it’s average three and a half star rating. You can’t expect such a small store with such limited profit to have every single thing in the world.
My point is, this store still has an extremely great collection of albums, with prices that are reasonably close to those on YesAsia. And unlike many other music stores I’ve been to, this store also sells albums from artists that are not available at other stores, because they are not as «popular.» The owner is extremely nice and will gladly give you a free poster along with your album purchase.
You might say that you can buy a $ 7 bootleg album instead of a $ 17 legitimate album, but what’s the point of getting an album, if you’re going to get a bootleg one. Why not just download the music off of the internet and make your own CD? Trust me. There is so much I am not writing, because I am having an extremely hard time getting my thoughts about this store down. But this is a great store and sadly it may not last that long.
Now, to be a fair reviewer, there is one tiny flaw about this place. It is extremely hard to exchange or refund an album. Not because they are unwilling, but because they reorder the purchased album immediately, because the store is so small. I bought an album for my friend’s Christmas present and realized that she had it already and wasn’t able to return it. Luckily for me, the album was worth collecting, so I wasn’t too upset. But just keep that in mind. And if you’re into collecting albums from the land of origin of the artist, some of the albums are Hong Kong Edition, so if you’re a hardcore collector like me and must get Japanese albums from Japan or Jay Chou albums for Taiwan, make sure to ask the owner first. He will gladly look for any album for you, in case you don’t like searching!
Again, you can see that I am extremely serious about this place. And hopefully, if you bothered to sit through this long review, you find that it will be helpful. Lai Ying is a treasure! 5 out of 5!

My wife is a fan of Korean music and movies, so I figured we would stop in Lai Ying’s to see if there was anything of interest. The store is located on yet another busy street in Chinatown, though for reference it’s near where the Fung Wah bus (as well as others) operate.
Lai Ying’s has a large array of product that, as far as I can tell, is based out of China, Korea and Japan. All of which are reasonably priced in New York, from CDs ($ 8 – 10) to DVDs. Based on my wife’s experience, the collection was not as complete as one might hope. She was interested in a DVD set from an older Korean soap opera, but all they had was part 2 of the set. That said, based on the quantity of other media I imagine would likely find what they’re looking for here, especially if it’s a one-​off title.
One knock against Lai Ying’s Music is that it may not be as organized as one could hope for. Granted, I can’t read the Chinese, Korean or Japanese language, but I can read english labels. When the wife was looking for Korean music, the section titled ‘Korean’ had no Korean music in it and instead was filled with other asian language titles. I imagine if one could read the CD/​DVD titles in the language provided they’d be quite fine, but if someone who was taking a shot in the dark on something as a music-​related gift for their Korean wife (ahem) they might have trouble.
On a side note, I was amused to see a Kenny G disc not too far from the pornography section. This may or may not have been a deliberate commentary on Kenny G’s sensual music.

The go-​to place for any kind of Asian movie ever. While I’m sad that the owner got evicted from her larger store on the Bowery, it’s nice to know that Lai Ying is back up and running in a smaller location around the corner. While the selection isn’t as big as before, you can still find pretty much anything you’d probably be looking for asian DVD/​Bluray wise here and the prices are generally acceptable. You probably won’t find what you’re looking for less unless you go online. The store gets bonus points for avoiding bootlegs at all costs, it’s their policy! They also accept credit cards, which is pretty convenient.

Another store I can’t stay away from.
What can I say?
My review for this store is the EXACT same for NY Music; word for word. I’m not typing all that shit again. Just listen to me, ladies & fellas. Read my NY Music review
and just go there. Now.