If you're planning to redecorate a bathroom, prepare for the good news. It is refreshingly easy and can be done in a day.

For fixtures such as toilets, baths, showerheads and stalls, major international brands - American Standard, Kohler, Moen and Toto, among others - and Chinese equivalents are conveniently clustered into just a few large furniture centers.

While the city provides a range of stand-alone showrooms dotted across the city, shoppers should note that there are a couple of places where, in a single experience, they can compare prices and styles from dozens of brands.

METRO went out to visit two furniture centers: the Macalline Mall on the southern part of the East Fourth Ring Road and the EasyHome International Center in Wangjing.

Each mall has its advantage - EasyHome has more high-end and modern brands while Macalline is a little stronger on gold-trim and marble fixtures. However, there is no shortage of choice at either location.

Bonuses like free delivery are also standard at these malls but there was a definite lack of proficient English-speaking clerks.

A safer alternative is Ikea but shoppers should take note that the Scandinavian superstore doesn't stock toilets or showerheads and its range of sinks are rather expensive and flimsy.

Some of the best prices at these venues include a new toilet or sink, with basin and tap, at Kohler - priced at under 1,000 yuan.

Japanese firm Toto is selling a stylish bathtub for 4,000 yuan, and complete shower kits with showerheads can be found at about 2,500 yuan.

Shelves, soap holders, towel racks and the like are available from between 100 and 400 yuan, depending on how large and complicated the product, at a variety of stores.

For tech-heads, make sure to take a trip to Toto. Japan's largest toilet company, its products are strikingly simple.

The range is dominated by white porcelain except for the sinks, which come in a variety of interesting shapes and colors. There is a fantastic freestanding bathtub, elegantly curved and tagged at 23,560 yuan.

Toto also carries "washlets" - high-tech toilets that wash and dry the user, saving toilet paper among other functions. Heated seats are a plus in unheated bathrooms, but so too is an attachment to turn a regular toilet into an advanced sanitary machine, with wash and dry, deodorizer and an adjustable-temperature seat, costing 2,980 yuan.

A more advanced, integrated toilet and washlet, with remote control, is also available, though it is priced high at 18,150 yuan. Neorest, the brands flagship model, raises and lowers its seat automatically and is far more expensive again - available at a measly 32,980 yuan.

Chinese companies have their own range of washlets that are often a lot cheaper.

There is an attachment at Suncoo for as little as 2,580 yuan and an integrated model from a company inauspiciously called Coma for a mere 3,329 yuan.

And there is a lot to be gained from looking in Chinese showrooms for style as well as price; a favorite gem is a canary-yellow sink with cabinet, made by Huida. The basic model is 2,792 yuan, with an extra 975 yuan needed to buy a tap.

For more conspicuous design, shoppers can take a look at US company Kohler. This brand makes porcelain fixtures in a startling variety of styles; not an understatement, there is porcelain in almost any pattern, from gold stripes to prints of botanical textbooks.

The experience of shopping in a large city like Beijing can sometimes be a bit of a headache, which is why these two malls make the process much simpler.

This holiday, take a trip to check out the range of baths and remember how the winter was meant to be spent - melting in a hot tub.