Shanghai has been famed as "the Shopping Paradise" and "the Oriental Paris' in history. Visitors come to Shanghai with a purpose of appreciating the beautiful urban scenery, as well as shopping in its various kinds of shops and stores. Nanjing Road, China's No.1 Commercial Street is a must for all visitors;Huaihai Road, an elegant and cultural commercial street, attracts thousands of young people who search for the latest fashion trends; and Sichuan Road, a popular commercial street, is specially favored by the working classes. In addition, the modern Xujiahui Commercial Town, the traditional Yu Yuan Bazaar, and the Kerry Ever Bright City near the exit of the Shanghai Railroad Station are all prime locations for avid shoppers. The shopping tour in Shanghai has become an important part of the city’s urban style tourism.
Shanghai Nanjing Road
The 5.5-km long Nanjing Road is the most bustling and prosperous street in Shanghai. It was first built in 1851. Formerly it was a country path in the fields running east-westward from the Bund to Henan Road. In 1853 the Fuli Company was opened here. In 1851, 14 firms like the Waston, Lao Deji Pharmacy and others and 9 cotton and woolen fabric stores were set up. Along with the development of the city and the import of large quantities of foreign merchandise commerce, Nanjing Road experienced rapid developing. Hundreds of big stores and famous shops were opened one after another. With the opening of five department stores, Wing On, Sincere, Sun Sun, Dai Sun and China Chinese Goods, the colorful and brightly lit Nanjing Road became the most bustling commercial street in Shanghai and in the whole country. Now the newly paved Nanjing Road has become the centre of Shanghai’s busy downtown. Here, one will find modern malls, famous old-brand stores and special product shops. It has become the largest collecting and distributing centre of retail goods in Southeast China. The every-day visitor flow here reaches over a million person/times. At night, lights glitter in blazing colors, especially at weekends; it becomes a pedestrian walkway for shopping and sightseeing.
Shanghai Huaihai Road
Huaihai Road was formerly named Avenue Joffre. The 6 kilometer long street is a bustling but elegant street and can be compared to Ave. des Champs Elysees in Paris, the Fifth Avenue in New York, the Ginza in Tokyo, Wujie Road inSingapore. There are over 400 modern shops on the most prosperous section of Huaihai Road (from Shaanxi Road toXizang Road which is a 2.2 kilometers long). Huaihai Road, with shops mainly selling top brand-name commodities, are well known for its elegance. The street is dotted with a number of large shops like the Huating Esetan, the Paris Spring and the Shanghai No.2 Yongxin Department Store. Huaihai Road is popularly known as "The Street of Fashion in Shanghai
Nanjing Road, with its magnificent building, shops standing in rows upon rows, bustling street scene and brilliant night view, is worth of its reputation as “China’s No 1 Shopping Street”. On Oct. 1, 1999, Nanjing Road (from Henan Road to Xizang Road) became a 24_hour pedestrian walkway. On the northern side of Nanjing Road there is a continuous “golden belt”, collecting artistic sketches, flower-beds and bus-waiting stands, forming a number of movie-like picturesque scenes under the sun light. Shanghai No 1 Department Store, Hualian Commercial Building, and New World Department Store are some of the big department stores in Shanghai.
Shanghai Chenghuangmiao Market
Shanghai Chenghuangmiao Market is located in Shanghai's old town surrounded by ancient buildings with traditional Chinese architecture. The complex consists of sightseeing and shopping areas. It is known as a "paradise for tourists" to get handicrafts, small commodities and to try the Shanghai local snacks. The shopping area has expanded from its former 18,000 square meters to 80,000 square meters. The shops here used to be known in the past as "a kingdom of small commodities”. Now the market also sells large and medium commodities and it is specially known inShanghai for the complete collection of tourist souvenirs with local feature. The newly erected buildings are featured of "antique exterior but modern interior” harmonizing with the original scenic sights and offsetting each other.
Shanghai Qipu Road Clothing Market
Qipu Road market offers a massive number of men’s wear, women’s wear and children’s wear. From jackets and scarves to bags, shoes and wigs, you will find them all here. Although it’s more focused on wholesale, you’ll still have the chance to grab the latest fashion at extremely low prices, providing you’re good at bargaining.
Qipu Road is now the largest whole sale and retail clothing market in Shanghai and it is also quite famous inSoutheast China. It has a history of over 100 years of selling clothing. In 1876, there was a hat shop opened on Qipu Road and it was the very first fashion shop on this road. Many clothing shops were opened on this road later and1930’s Qipu Road already became a pretty famous clothing market in Shanghai.
Since 1990, many retail and wholesale shops have been opened at Qipu Road area: along Henan North Road, ShanxiNorth Road, Fujian Road and Zhejiang Road. Currently, daily visitors to Qipu Road are between 20,000 and 25,000.
Shanghai Dongtai Road Antique Market
Shanghai Dongtai Road Antique Market is famous for its antiques (both real and fake, as a matter of fact, it is getting hard now to find real antiques here), and is a destination that should not be missed on any trip to Shanghai. Dongtai Road is an open market about 200 meters long with about 125 stores opened on both sides of the road. The "antique" stalls sell some interesting items among the inevitable Mao memorabilia, including ceramics, porcelains, copper wares, jade, ancient coins, old Shanghai poster advertisements, pocket watches, paintings and a host of other collectibles. Those planning on shopping here should be sure to bargain. Since there are lots of tourists both from China and from abroad, those antique store owners are very adept at soaking out the highest possible sale price. Many stalls sell many of the same and/or similar items, so shop around for the best price.
Shanghai South Bund Fabric Market
Shanghai South Bund Fabric Market was opened on April 15, 2006 after the Dongjiadu Lu market was closed. It isShanghai’s top spot for raw textile goods and made-to-order garments. Shanghai has been long famed as a popular place for tailor made clothing in China. The South Bund Fabric Market has all of Shanghai's best tailors under one roof.Almost every stall has its own tailor who can whip up whatever you want in about a week. Wade through the mountains of fabric perfect for a design of your own creation or for the numerous samples provided. The tailors here can create custom made suits, dresses, coats and jeans; in fact they will pretty much create anything you could want at very low price which depends on your bargaining skill.
Shanghai Xujiahui Commercial City
Xujiahui Commercial City, located in the southwestern part of Shanghai, with Xujiahui Square as its center, occupies an area of 1.2 square meters. It has been built in three stages with over 100 highrises and a total floor of 2,000,000 square meters, among which 500,000 square meters are commercial facilities. At present, the commercial city is almost complete in scale, with a number of well-known shopping malls, restaurants and hotels, like the Oriental Shopping Center, Pacific Department Store, Shanghai No.6 Department Store, Zhongxing Department Store, Huilian Commercial Building, Bainaohui (Center of computers), Metro City, Jianguo Hotel and Huating Hotel, all equipped with up-to-date commercial facilities. At Xujiahui Commercial City visitors may experience the unique atmosphere of an oriental metropolis.