Not sure if someone has posted about this before, but Hero "Doctor" ink is probably the cheapest ink in the world.
I haven't tried it yet, but I came across it today in a bookstore in Shanghai. (As well as a good selection of Hero pens, of which I bought 10 of differing kinds.)

There was a selection of blue, black, blue-black, and red. I have black, red, and blue.

But the most amazing thing about the ink was the price.

3 renminbi.

Yes, 3 RMB. In US dollars, that's $0.44

That's barely enough to take the subway once in Shanghai. (Not to mention the fact that on the subway, I had to reach backwards over my head to keep myself in the train while the doors were closing. And I'm a somewhat slim (~168cm, ~50kg) kid... rush hour on Hong Kong's MTR system is a heck of a lot better.)

Hopefully it won't clog any pens, but I can really see why for some Chinese, fountain pens are much cheaper than ballpoint pens. Instead of buying (relatively) expensive refills, one need only buy a Hero 616 for 9 yuan, and a bottle of Hero ink for 3 yuan.

I wish I bought more fountain pens now - alas, I only had about 140 RMB in my wallet at the time and I have a limited stay in Shanghai. I hope I can find that bookstore again so I can buy more pens and ink.

Interesting, I had heard online of Duke ink but not Hero.

This seller describes one variety of Hero ink as having these properties
as well as other bottles called Washables.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fountain-Pen-Bottle-In...1742.m153.l1262
This bottle ink is specially for bladder and fixed suction fountain pens and traditional ink pens, treated with anti-oxidant and corrosion inhibitor.

Sounds like Shanghai's version of Noodler's American Eel!

Let us know how your Hero "Doctor" inks behave.

Actually, many people want this ink, but there is no reliable source for the US or Europe. At least that is what I remember reading on this forum.

If I remember correctly, Mr. Binder (I think. My apologies to him if I am wrongly attributing a quote to him.) said that he enjoyed the ink and would use it if he could find a reliable source.

Again, all from a faint recollection, so my apologies if it is incorrect.

-Nkk

do not forget Dux ink as well black & blu for about the same 3 RMB. And where was the store. Nanjing road or book street?

I still haven't tried it yet (just got back from another day of sightseeing) but I also picked up a bottle of Hero non-Doctor ink from a local stationery store. 2.5 RMB, even cheaper than the Doctor inks.

The Doctor bottles are a bit nicer-looking, but the non-Doctor bottle I just bought has 60ml of ink, as opposed to 50ml in the Hero Doctor bottle.

Surprisingly, everything that's a bit on the lower side in terms of price for fountain pens can be had for cheaper than in Canada. Of course, I was expecting Hero pens and inks to be cheaper, but I never expected that Parker Quink would be cheaper here! In Shanghai, a regular-sized bottle of Quink (I think it was 57ml?) costs 18 RMB in the aformentioned stationery store. That's $2.63 US/$2.69 CAD...


Hmm, interesting, I'll keep my eyes open for that. But why is that seller using my first name?


Edit: Bleh, unstable internets... using two DD-WRT'd foneras to "borrow" internet from next door. 1 client bridge, 1 AP.

Err, I can't type in chinese. Nor do I know pinyin for standard mandarin, but if I had to take a stab at writing it phonetically from Cantonese, the address is something like 465 fok zhou road (if I were to literally translate: lucky south?)

Hm, I'd be interesting in knowing where you bought them too, as I have an old professor in China who could send me some of this ink.

[EDIT] Nevermind, you said Cantonese, not Mandarin.