Shanghai Shopping

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This is an outdoor bazaar that tourists will love. The architecture here is very oriental and the number of Chinese souvenirs here are ample.

There's a famous 'siao long pau' (Chinese small dumplings with meat and soup inside) shop here where you'd need to queue. My hubby and I were too lazy to queue and since we were tired of having Chinese food, we decided to have MacDonalds here instead. :-) There's also a KFC here.

What to buy: If you like Chinese traditional stuff, here's a great place to find them! There's also shops that sell the traditional Chinese cheong sam, silk scarves, traditional Chinese herbs, jewellery, etc.

It's actually a mini shopping complex, not a 'market' at all. You can get fake branded goods here such as Prada, Gucci, Coach... etc. for very good prices and the quality is quite GOOD!

You need to bargain though... the prices are not fixed. Start about 60-70% lower than the quoted price and work your way upwards. I bargained for a couple of children's clothes from RMB 300 to RMB 130. And that too.... the lady seemed happy with her sale. Think I could have gotten lower.

Most of the vendors there speak fairly good English.

What to buy: I would recommend the Coach bags there. The designs are lovely.

If you're there before the Olympics, you can get some nice quality Olympic mascot keychains for RMB 20 for 5 pieces. That's the best price you can get. Many shops sell the same thing, so if you're not happy with the price one shop quotes just walk to the next and compare.

You can also get cheap luggages there which are of reasonable quality and good designs.

Next to the Yuyuan Garden is a complex of shops that sell a variety of souvenirs, clothing, jewelry, and other items. It is a great place to shop for gifts for your friends and relatives back home before you get on the plane to fly back home. Just remember to bargain hard for all of your purchases. It seemed like the eventual price that we paid was about 1/2 of the original price listed on each item. I'm sure that we still overpaid, but there is a point where the hassle factor of further bargaining offsets the incremental gains.

What to buy: We bought purses, clotheing, and Christmas ornaments in the Yuyuan shops.

What to pay: Expect to pay about 1/3 of the asking price.

The premier shopping distric in Shanghai is Nanjing Lu or Nanjing Road. In this walking street stretching from the Bund to the People's Square you can get everything from the the well known international brands as well as an array of local products. This place is usually very crowded so it's advisable to come early to get away from the crowds.

After all the shopping that your heart or wallet can take, you can refresh yourself and eat in the many restaurants lining the streets. There are many types of cuisine available from traditional Shanghaiese food to European food to American food is available.

After dark, Nanjing Lu comes alive as the shops open their neon lights. It's a breathtaking sight seeing the many lights glimmering and makes for a rare experience.

What to pay: Prices are a little on the high side but if you look hard enough you can still find some bargains.

Haha! My hotel happened to oversee a clothes wholesale market and so we went! Hugh, each building is around 4 to 5 storeys high and there are at least around 5 buildings in that area selling wholesale clothes.

Shanghai is famous for it's clothes being trendy and well tailored. Indeed, the clothes I saw at the various clothes wholesale buildings, are, of better quality than those I found in Guangzhou. Clothes, hats, undergarments, stockings, socks, jackets etc. Many stalls attend to retail sales too.

What to pay: Wholesale price if you're buying whoelsale. You can still bargain there even if you're buying retail (means you are buying only a piece of two, not bulk).

Shop owner and shop assistans are quite friendly, offer free tasting and are good companions for small talk

What to buy: good quality fujian oolong tea

What to pay: ask for discounts and don't try to buy cheaper if they have different price range for same blend..buy most expensive ( it is anyway NOT so much expensive). Always taste what you buy!

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Built in 1901, the six-kilometer-long Huai Hai Road commemorates the Huai Hai Battle during Liberation. Today, this road has become synonymous with what is trendy and fashionable in Shanghai. This is commercial street contains more than 400 shops, restaurants and businesses.

As a tourism and shopping street Huaihai Road shares a good reputation with the Nanjing Road. The constructions on both sides of the Huaihai Road are modern and lordly and the upholsteries of the stores are noble and elegant. In this street, the constructions with the occident classic style, the Chinese classic style, the Continental fashion style and the cross-century metropolitan architectural style demonstrate different characteristics, and the strong leisured cultural aura of city is emitting whether in construction appearance or in their interior layout. T

What to buy: he Huaihai Road has centralized the famous stores such as World Boutique, Printemps, Maisonmode and Huating Isetan.They display varieties of articles with world brand name in a lofty stance, which have made the shopping in Shanghai reach the world-class standard.

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Shanghai Old Street near the Yuyuan Garden. Known as Fangbang Road, "Shanghai Old Street" with a total of 825 metres, is adjacent to the Yuyuan Garden Bazaar Area and runs in an east-west direction from Zhonghua Road to Henan Road South.

The street can be divided into the eastern and western section. The eastern section keeps the characteristics of residences in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican day. The houses on both sides of the street are fitted with checkered windows, shop-fronts of wooden boards, balustrades and swing doors, roofs with upturned eaves and protruding corners, laced drain-pipes and horse-shape wall tops. The western section is filled with Ming and Qing style architectures, with black tiles and white-washed walls, red columns and upturned eaves, showcasing styles of old Shanghai. The western section has a number of antique & curio shops as well as restaurants and teahouses, and the eastern sections has a variety of shops including florists, shoe and clothing retailers, noodle restaurants and specialty dealers selling Chinese tea and snacks such as "Five Fragrant Beans".

Shanghai Old Street is an ideal place to explore the Old Shanghai, looking back to the old days.

What to buy: There are bargains to be had if you want to and know how to bargain on this stretch of 800-yard bargain paradise. There are trinkets and souvenirs of all kinds. China's diverse history, culture and ethnic mix provides a great store of traditional arts, crafts and literature. Take the opportunity to see and experience Chinese folk arts.