Top 7 Shopping Places in Shanghai

A very portion of Shanghai's appeal lies in its dizzying variety of shopping options, since Shanghai has become one of the most cosmopolitan hubs on the planet with labels and brands from all over the world. It is also the reason why flocks of visitors fall hard for this vibrant city and desire to bring a piece of it back home.

Generally, Shanghai boasts a multitude of shopping places, ranging from shiny multistory malls to boisterous plazas, to open-air haggling markets and stylish shopping streets. No matter for high fashion labels, cutting-edge boutiques or local novelty pieces, you will surely find everything you can think of. Considering wears, souvenirs, silks, gems and antiques, etc, you could draw some inspirations from this list of Shanghai's most popular shopping spots to find the best deals.

As one of the busiest shopping streets in the world, Nanjing Road in Shanghai is an unbeatable paradise for savvy shoppers, which welcomes approximately a million visitors every day. Spanning about 5km long from the Yanan Xilu eastward to the Bund, Nanjing Road has been the commercial center of Shanghai for hundreds of years, housing everything from the biggest global names in fashion to popular fast food chains.

The pedestrian-only eastern section of Nanjing Road is the most popular and crowded area, where you could find bulks of flagship stores, upmarket shopping malls and luxury goods boutiques as well as decent food stalls. Window shopping is a great experience in Nanjing Road, which is a great way to feel the vibe of the city and also to meet the locals at their leisure. The farther east you walk on the road, the more shopper crowds you will encounter, and finally you will get to the Bund, an amazing break from the dizzy window shopping adventure.

If you're looking for some China-made specialties and trinkets like jade pieces, gold and silver items, gems, chopsticks and local handicrafts in Shanghai, you shall search no further but plunge into the buzzing bazaar outside the Yuyuan Garden. It is a very lively open-air market packed with elaborately-decorated shops and fancy roadside stalls that allow plenty of bargaining to do.

Vendors hawk everything from locally crafted souvenirs to exquisite jade and silk pieces, which enables visitors to gain insights into the dynamic culture of Shanghai and its people. For the best experience, you could explore the bazaar in the evening to admire the brightly-lit buildings and walk on the zigzagging bridge over a lovely lake.

Aka Shanghai New World, Xintiandi is no doubt one of the most prosperous and trendiest shopping epicenters. Out of a cluster of renovated classic Shikumen houses, the new rising shopping area retains its archaic walls and roofs, but also get packed with shiny new malls that are home to glittering flagships of luxury labels like Prada, Chanel and Dior like. There you can also check out many fresh home-grown labels and local edgy designs for women fashion like Uma Wang. Besides, you can also find many international galleries, upscale restaurants, tasteful bars and cafes among the glitzy shops, where you would treat yourself with a delightful break from endless shopping.

If you are hunting for some high-end local brands, the first place you should go is the leafy former French Concession. It is a colony lined with fanciful boutiques and lovely cafés to poke around in. Though sitting in age-old lanes, the former French Quarter is a luminous spot to chase after the edgy fashion from aspiring local talents. Pop your head into the framed windows to find tailored suits, traditional Chinese cheongsam, funky bags, jewelry accessories, Han-style dresses and easy-to-wear handmade shoes, etc. There also lies some organic skincare brands thriving in China for hundreds of years, and probably you could select some scented balms and handmade soaps as home-returning gifts. Meanwhile, you are able to enjoy a leisurely strolling along this tree-lined street for an additional historic discovery of Shanghai's former French Concession.

Nicknamed as Tons of Fun by expats, Tianzifang is an enclave of narrow lanes with a stylish blending of European charms overlaid by Chinese Shikumen complex, the stone gatehouses clustered along longtang dating back to the early 1930s. Longtang is a disappearing traditional alley neighborhood in urban Shanghai, where arrays of low-slung folk dwellings have been transformed into lovely boutiques, quirky craft shops, restaurants, tea houses, art galleries and bars.

Most shops sell artworks and handicrafts for reasonable prices. Just with 15 dollars, you can afford for a pair of Feiyue shoes, a cheap and comfy footwear existing in Shanghai for nearly a century. Just gear up for your shopping spree in the mazelike alleys and immerse in the bustle of haggling.

A.P Plaza is a huge underground market under the Science and Technology Station of Metro Line 2, which makes it easily accessible. There are more than 1,000 shops and stores offering various kinds of commodities, such as clothes, bags, suitcases, genuine pearls, purses, sunglasses, electronics, accessories and souvenirs. Besides, the plaza is also Shanghai's biggest market for knock-offs of almost all luxury brands in the world. The price of goods is usually not displayed, which much depends on the shop owners and how good you can bargain. Don't buy from the first vendor but shop around! There are definitely bargains for every conceivable item, as most of vendors could speak good English and expect you to haggle. Just be prepared to loosen your purse strings as you would meet tons of things you would ever want to buy.

Dongtai Road is the largest and most visited antique market in Shanghai. There are hundreds of shops and vendors selling one-of-a-kind treasures for serious antique shoppers, such as Ming-Qing furniture, ceramics, jade pieces, bronze ware, ink paintings, calligraphies, porcelain, wood carvings and vintage bric-a-brac.

For most western buyers, it is a great place to pick some unique knick-knacks as souvenirs. Porcelain tea sets, old lacquered boxes, Art Deco pieces and painted opera masks are the most purchased merchandises, and especially the memorabilia from China's Communist Cultural Revolution and Chairman Mao are favored much by European visitors. Just remember to sharpen up your bargaining skills since the price offered has been marked up at least 50%.