Guangzhou Shopping

This street is one of my fav. shopping areas in Guangzhou. It has absolutely everything; cheap clothes, good food and even a little history.. there is a display of the original road from the song dynasty (960 - 1279 A.D)You can find awesome mens, womens and childrens clothing for really good prices. I especially recommend ladies heading here to shop, I love the clothes and shoes .. not to mention the purses and other accessories!

What to buy: Pretty much any type of clothing you could want: trendy womens and mens fashions, childrens clothing, sporty stores and a ton of shoe and purse stores. There are also some book stores and superstore/department stores just off the street. oh and not to mention the infamous fake watch stalls.. you'll get hounded quite a bit but these men on the street ( a little annoying)
~ don't just stay on the main street area if you look in what seem to be alley ways full of small stalls and shops ( often quite full of people) thast where the best bargaining shops are.. you can get some really great clothes for cheap!

What to pay: I would defiantly say you shouldn't be spending more than 100 yuan for most things here ( well bargaining stalls, price tag items are different can be up to 500 yuan but better quality) just be ready to bargain because they really put up the prices for foreigners often more than triple what a local would pay!

In the center of the city is another pedestrian shopping street called XiangXiaJiu Lu. Smaller than the famous Beijing Lu, this long road of shops and vendors will not leave you disappointed. Women's, men's, and children's clothing, as well as a wide assortment of accessories and knick knack can be found here. The best thing about it is that it was right next to my house! I shopped here EVERY NIGHT when I'm in town!

What to buy: clothes and accessories

What to pay: Varies

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The Grandview Mall is an immense new homage to commerce and capitalism, erected in the heart of Tian He, Guangzhou's thriving business district. The mall is brand new (opened in 2005) and is situated very close to the pre-existing Teem Plaza (TeeMall). Upon its opening, it became the 4th largest shopping mall in the world with total area of 4.5 million square feet. This mall has several levels with a vast multitude of shops and one large somewhat upscale department store attached. It features an excellent Brazilian restaurant, as well as the usual suspects, Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Watson's, etc. Park n' Shop also has a new location here and there is even a full size ice skating rink! The mall includes several full scale reproductions of classic sculptures, such as the "Winged Victory of Samothrace", pictured here...

Near the Garden Hotel and just behind the Guangzhou World Trade Center, you'll find Taojin Lu, a street that passes through a great shopping area for clothes, especially women's clothes... Shooting off from Taojin Lu, there are many small side streets, each of which has a share of small, independent fashion shops, with funky names, designs and clothes...! Definitely one of the best areas to shop if you're looking for unique items at reasonable prices... In this photo, a shop named "Blue"...

Galaxy Computer Plaza is located in Guangzhou's technology and business district, called Tian He... The Plaza includes three huge floors and a basement level full of every kind of modern electronic goods you may need, especially computers and computer accessories... The facility itself is fairly modern and well staffed...

Big 7-storey Shopping Centre with connection to the MRT subway (Stadium West Road - Ti Yi Xi Lu), complete with food outlet, entertainment centre and many more.

All branded goods are available here including Jusco store. Items sold here are generally more upmarket and are of good quality made.

I was there on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve and the place is jammed pack with people.

A block away are Grandview Mall, Grandbuy Departmental Store and Sunnin. Sunnin sells cheap electronic goods. MP3 player at discounted 6 RMB was available at Sunnin when I was there.

What to buy: High Quality Goods

What to pay: Standard Prices

Situated next to Xiajiu Road and spanning eight streets, the Hualin Street jade market is full of small shops.
One can find jade ovals, studs, pendants and bangles, as well as small jade decorations of all shapes and colours (red, green, yellow, grey, white, black)
Some of the shops offers certificates of authenticity for A class pieces.

What to pay: Anything from 10 to 10000 RMB. It depends on the quality, size, color.

Ever wonder where Chinese antique dealers really get their merchandise? They like to say that it comes from China's countryside and that whatever you like in their shop just happened to come in 10 days ago from some village in Henan province where a poor rural family sold off their precious heirlooms or some farmer accidently dug it up in a field . Well I'm here to tell you that this is all a bunch of bamboo shoots (Chinese B.S.).

I stumbled across a wholesale market of replica antiques in area of Guangzhou seldom visited by foreign tourists. That's right, I said "wholesale"...as in tons of replica antiques made to order. Rows upon rows of quality replica bronzes that look like a thief looted the Shaanxi Provincial Museum after an earthquake; armies of Tang San Cai (tri-color glazed pottery) horses and princesses standing in lots; all fake and all made somewhere nearby though none of the shopowners would divulge the factory's location.

It's really an incredible sight, and an enlightening experience if you have ever thought about buying antiques in China. Once you've convinced them that you're on to the game, the wholesalers become retailers and give you cheap bargains. I couldn't believe it when I bought what looked like a Qing dynasty copy of a 1 meter tall Tang princess statue for only 300 RMB. I imagine the price on Hong Kong's Hollywood Road would be 3000 Hong Kong dollars and at an "Oriental Antique" shop in Seattle it might be 600 US dollars or more.

Ancient porcelain is much more difficult to copy and so the fakes are easier to identify. Therefore the market for high quality copies of bronze and clay antiques is developing rapidly. Only trained experts can really spot the difference among authentic Tang San Cai from the Tang dynasty, Qing dynasty copies of Tang San Cai, and modern replicas made in Guangzhou.
Ordinary buyers would find it challenging to differentiate between the latter two examples.

What to buy: Replica ancient bronzes (including Sanxingdui copies), replica Tang San Cai (tri-colour glazed statues), replica Jun ware pottery, authentic ornate wood carvings, authentic Jingdezhen porcelain

What to pay: Most high quality replicas can be purchased for 200-300 RMB if you are a savvy shopper. You should not pay more than 400 RMB for any replica items. Authentic Jingdezhen porcelain will be priced higher for certain extraordinary items, but I don't believe that you're going to find a real Ming vase.