Shanghai is renowned as a shopping mecca. The most populous city in China at 23 million, it is full of wonderful stylish shops and stores selling luxury brands.
But perhaps the most exciting thing for me was the chance to budget shop.
South Bund Fabric Market
It pays to come prepared to these markets by bringing along your favourite dress or outfit. Tailors are ready and waiting to make you a copy in a similar fabric and they charge very little – a fully tailored jacket will cost you less than $80 and it is ready in 24 hours. You simply drop off your clothes and pick up the copies the next day.
Or you might like to invest in a quality suit (less than $100) or beautifully tailored shirts.
The shops have many designs and fabrics for you to choose from and they will turn them around as quickly as you need.
If you’re planning a trip to Shanghai, put this market in your diary for the first day, so that they can get on with making your clothes while you visit the tourist sites (or do more shopping). Then pick them up on the day before you leave or have them sent your hotel.
399 Lujiabang Rd, Huangpu.
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Fake Market
This is a massive five floors of every fake designer brand you can imagine, but again, go prepared. If you are looking for a certain type of handbag, take a picture with you and show it to the stallholders. Chances are it will be “out the back.” They keep many of the more popular items hidden so that they don’t get grief from people whose job it is to close down the lucrative fake businesses. You will be ushered behind a curtain and shown the handbag you are after, or something very similar. The same goes for clothes, watches and shoes. Ask for the brand or show them a picture and out the back you will go.
Then it is your chance to haggle. In my experience, the price they start at is about double what they expect to get in the end. So stick to your guns and don’t be afraid to do the “oh, I don’t really need it” act and walk away. Most stallholders will run after you and do a deal right there and then.
If you wear prescription glasses, make sure you take along your script and head to the top floor at the back where you will find shops more than happy to fill your prescription to a frame of your choice for about NZ$30 – depending on the frames you choose. Here you will find very good copies of Ray-Ban and all the other designer brand sunglasses and spectacles.
580 Nanjing West Rd.
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Plaza 66
If you’re a designer darling, you won’t want to miss Plaza 66, which hosts all the top designer shops from around the world. If you’re not a designer darling, you’ll probably want to go there anyway, to feel smug about the Louis Vuitton handbag you bought at the Fake Market for a fraction of the real price tag.
Here you will find Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Prada, along with many other labels.
You’ll be pleased to know that this mall is very stylish and has many rest areas and dining options to refresh you.
*1266 Nanjing Rd.
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Nanjing Road
This road, the world’s longest shopping street at around 6km, attracts more than a million visitors a day. Its history goes back to 1854 and it has hosted department stores and a variety of shops. In 2000, it was renovated as a pedestrian street.
It is divided into two areas Nanjing Road East and Nanjing Road West. The east part of the road has most of Shanghai’s oldest and largest department stores and some very old, traditional restaurants. To the west are shopping centres, hotels and restaurants.
I found this road quite overwhelming to begin with but can recommend a casual, no-pressure stroll along it to take in all it has to offer, then a quick hop in a cab back to the shops you liked the most to start some serious shopping.
Dongtai Road Antique Market
I loved this market, which features all sorts of antiques from lovely old enamel cups and plates to revolution posters, memorabilia and old jewellery.
There are also some modern things here – I bought a couple of lovely tea mugs with strainers and lids in them for about $5.
You are encouraged to haggle here, but you won’t get much of a bargain. My attempts at haggling ended with me walking off in the hope they would follow and give me the price I was prepared to pay, only to find the vendor stayed put!
I regret not paying for a wonderful old enamel plate, but I did buy a beautiful little bowl which I now treasure.
Liuhekou Rd, Luwan.
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Supermarket Shanghai-style
You can’t really say you’ve shopped in Shanghai until you’ve gone to one of its supermarkets. They are called wet markets, because they sell fish and meat – and they smell really bad. This isn’t a trip for the faint-hearted, but it is well worth seeing the variety and style of food the Chinese shop for.
Upstairs is the vegetable market where I was amused to see one stall called Doctor Vegetable. The Chinese will tell you that many vegetables and herbs are healers, so this seemed appropriate. Don’t be afraid to sample the weird and wonderful foods here – note the amazing variety of mushrooms!
Corner of Fuxing Zhong Lu & Xiangyang Nan Lu.
