So basically what your saying is you get what you pay for... lol. I think Hagon or Ikon shocks are a nice middle ground option.
The reason I went for chinese shocks is that my cousin got some Hagon's on his honda - around $250 I think. He's been happy with the perfomance, but they're corroding like it's nobody's business. The chrome springs and eyelets starting getting spots of rust a few months in, and after a year they looked just as old as my almost 40yo stock kz shocks.
There are plenty of reviews of chinese shocks, so you can tell what you're getting yourself into if you spend the time - sometimes good, sometimes bad. If you're just eyeballing cheap shocks that look good you'll likely have a bad time, but there are some makes that are decent. RFY are one of those decent makes. They're not perfect - they really need a bleed valve and some decent oil before they're a 'good' shock, but you can spend hundreds more for far worse.