Shanghai is China's shopping capital and is great for such things as silks, antiques, and arts and crafts. Unless you are in a department store or government-run antiques store, the golden rule is to bargain. Be warned: The Chinese may well have invented it. Many of the main shopping centers are located cheek by jowl with the best hotels in the nicer parts of town. Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road and Hengshan Road all feature expensive designer stores for clothes.
Isetan
Nanjing Road
Located near the Shanghai Center. Isetan, a Japanese-owned department store, carries such brands as Lancome, Clinique, Benetton, Aquascutum, Gieves and Hawkes and Episode.
Yaohan Department Store
501 Zhangyang Lu, Pudong
If you've a thing for Japanese department stores, then check out the Yaohan Department store, also known as Ba Bai Tan. This place claims to be the biggest department store in Asia and sells virtually everything you can imagine, including cars.
Maison Mode
939 Huaihai Road corner Changle Lu
Not to be outdone, Huaihai Road has Maison Mode, another designer-filled mall, as well as Printemps, the leader in French department stores. This emporium, with a design based on a famous old department store in Paris, is found in the middle of the French Concession.
Shanghai No. 1 Department Store
830 Nanjing Road
A state-owned Chinese department store is worth a trip just to see the Chinese in action shopping. The best and biggest of these is the Shanghai No. 1 Department store, about a 10-minute walk from the Shanghai Center.
Orient Shopping Centre
8 Cuoxi Bei Lu
Down close to People's Square and the Bund is the Orient Shopping Centre. This is replete with everything you could possibly imagine and the prices are reasonable. It also features many European and American famous brand names and is just a short taxi ride from all major hotels.
Bookstores
Although most hotels carry a good selection of magazines, newspapers, and books, a trip to a bookstore is a crucial factor to getting the most out of a visit to Shanghai. Two highly recommended books 'Shanghai,' are Harriet Sergeant's account of Shanghai's raucous history up until 1949, and Simon Winchester's classic account of the Yangtse River, 'The River at the Centre of the World'. The best bet for foreign books is the Foreign Language Bookstore at 390 Fuzhou in the heart of the old French Concession, close to all major hotels by taxi.
Antiques
Fuyou Lu
457 Gangbang Zhong Lu
One of the most enjoyable shopping treats in Shanghai is a visit to the huge antiques emporium called Fuyou Lu, a four-storey mock Qing Dynasty warehouse located down near the Bund. Although a lot of the stuff is junk left over from pre-revolution times, there are some gems to be found, particularly from minorities who bring in woven goods, neolithic pots, and odds treasures from their home provinces. Part of the fun is bargaining. Also a good place to pick up antique carpets and furniture from Tibet.
Dongtai Lu Market
off Xizang Lu
The nearby Dongtai Lu Market (off Xizang Lu) is slightly better organized and more expensive but the quality is higher. The place is a great window to old Shanghai. It's like going to a museum except everything is for sale.
Arts and Crafts
Arts and Craft Research Institute
79 Fenyang Lu
Shanghai is awash in arts and crafts. You can even watch them being made at the Arts and Craft Research Institute, not far from all major hotels by taxi. They sell lanterns, engraved chops and other traditional Chinese art.
Friendship Store
40 Beijing Dong Lu
It's worth a trip to one of the state-owned Friendship stores to check out their arts and crafts. The stores were originally for foreigners only but are now open to everyone. The best one is at 40 Beijing Dong Lu in the heart of the city. It's especially good for silk.
Shanghai Jingdezhen Porcelain Store
1175 Nanjing Xi Lu
Just down the road from the Shanghai Center, alongside some good silk shops, the Shanghai Jingdezhen Porcelain Store also has a good selection of arts and crafts.
