Few years ago used to buy a lot from Aliexpress. Then I discovered that the items are the same in Taobao and the price in Aliexpress is 3-4 times higher.

I am non chinese, i use google translate all the way to buy from Taobao lol. The only thing is need to in bulk for taobao (to save on shipping), whereas for Aliexpress can just buy one single item (because free shipping).