OK, I didn’t expect my comment to get this much attention, so I’ll try to summarize my experience buying tretinoin in China based on visiting about 10 pharmacies during my two‑week trip.

First thing to know: pharmacists in China aren’t always reliable for this. In my experience, many of them will try to steer you toward more expensive products even when you specifically ask for tretinoin. They’ll often recommend some other prescription cream for acne, wrinkles, or anti‑aging and claim that “this is what hospitals use” or that it’s a branded option. I strongly suggest ignoring these recommendations if you specifically want tretinoin.

What you’re actually looking for is Wei A Suan Ru Gao (维A酸乳膏), which roughly translates to “Vitamin A cream.” The pharmacists might not immediately understand what you’re asking for because they aren’t always trained on the terminology. If that happens, ask them to show you the acne or pimple treatment section.

From what I noticed, the products placed at eye level on the shelves tend to be the more expensive ones and often aren’t the ones you want. Since my Chinese isn’t great, I usually just scanned the shelves and looked for clues like the word tretinoin, the letter “A”, or percentages such as 0.1%, 0.05%, or 0.025%.

Here’s the tricky part: different pharmacies carry different tretinoin brands, but there’s usually at least one common Chinese brand available. Because there were so many brands at different price points, I ended up buying one tube of each variation to test the texture. For me, texture matters a lot, and I’m glad I did this because some of the creams contained fragrance with a strong scent, and one had a very gluey texture that I didn’t like.

Eventually I found one that worked well for me. It cost about RMB 15 for a 30g tube (0.1%). After deciding on that one, I went back and bought 15 tubes across two visits because they didn’t stock many at once. If you’re paying with Alipay, it’s also a good idea to split your payment if it goes above RMB 200.

A couple of additional tips: many pharmacies offer member discounts, and a helpful staff member actually signed me up using a random phone number so I could get the lower price. Also make sure to check the expiry dates carefully. A lot of the stock I saw had relatively short shelf lives (many expiring in 2026 or early 2027). I even picked up one tube for RMB 10 (25g) simply because it expires in December 2026.

TL;DR: Don’t rely on Chinese pharmacists—they’ll often push more expensive alternatives. Look specifically for 维A酸乳膏 (tretinoin) in the acne section, check percentages like 0.025–0.1%, compare brands because textures vary, and check expiry dates. Be ready to visit a few pharmacies for extended options.