Shanghai Shopping Tips

Famed as a "Shopping Paradise" and an "Oriental Paris", Shanghai is famous for its great variety of fashion accessories, local arts and crafts such as distinctive porcelain, filigrees, jade and ivory carvings, to name but a few. Among them, the most famous is Shanghai's embroidered silk. Shanghai is one of China's most imported locations for silk production and export.

Shopping in Shanghai is different from shopping in Hong Kong or New York, since not only famous brand name fashions are available, but also many local products that cannot be found anywhere else. Shanghai features many famous name designer boutiques. For those on a more limited budget, there are plenty of wonderful shopping areas that are fun to wander around and pick up less expensive, but equally fabulous items.

"Four Streets and Four Cities":
Shanghai has numerous shopping streets, but four of them stand out more than the others for their excellent merchandise. Nanjing Road, one of Shanghai's four main shopping streets, enjoys the reputation of being the No.1 Commercial Street in China. It has clusters of a wide variety of shops from those that are centuries-old, to specialized shops, and modern malls. Equally as famous as Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road is celebrated for its elegance. It features famous name designer brands from all over the world. North Sichuan Road offers good inexpensive merchandise and is always the first choice of ordinary people. The Middle Tibet Road, is the place to buy local food and local arts and crafts.

Among the four cities (shopping areas) in Shanghai, Yuyuan Shopping City is the venue deals in specialized Chinese arts and crafts ranging from small articles, local crafts, jade wares and gold and silver jewelry. The newly-established shopping and entertainment plaza, Xujiahui consists of large stores where tourists can obtain both costly and mid-range priced goods. New Shanghai Shopping City is built on a grand scale and offers the best facilities and amenities. Located in the middle of Pudong Lujiazui Finance and Trade Area, it is surrounded by a variety of retail outlets. Facing the Shanghai Railway Station, Jiali Sleepless City, is a flourishing commercial area that looks as a bright pearl on the landscape.

There are many other shopping streets in Shanghai available. For small souvieners and inexpensive clothing, the Hong Kong Famous Shops Street and the Dimei Shopping Center are the perfect place. In these locations, bartering is expected, and the price given is usually twice as much as will be expected by the shop owners.