I'm an expat (uni student) here in China, and I must say that you should NOT avoid dealing with China altogether. You should just be very careful. There are lots of quality stuff here, a whole lot of great stuff you guys buy are actually made in China (whether you know it or not

). But as usual, where there's good stuff; there's bad and it's the same thing with China.
The quality stuff here costs as much as they would be anywhere else in the world (ok, maybe a few bucks cheaper if you're good at bargaining with the manufacturers). So if someone starts offering you an iPhone for $5, you're obviously getting what you paid for and nothing more.
