Listings - The Rough Guide to Shanghai - page 127

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Shopping

Shanghai is excellent for shopping, with something for all tastes, whether you
like getting stuck into teeming markets or swaggering about with the glitterati.
And with the yuan artificially pegged at a low rate, for foreign visitors it's all
great value too.
The Shanghainese love luxury goods , and it's not uncommon to find young
women spending several months' salary on a handbag - it's advertising status in
a society that only recently lost traditional forms of hierarchical display. But all
those glitzy brand names that give the streets their sheen are not good value at
all; high-end goods and international brands are generally twenty percent more
expensive than they would be in the West. Ignore them, and instead plunge into
the fascinating world of the backstreet boutiques and markets , where you
can get just about anything you could think of for less than you thought
possible. It's a rare visitor who doesn't end up having to buy another bag to keep
all his new goodies in.
Serious shoppers should first get themselves to the Foreign Language
Bookstore or Garden Books (see p.146), both of which sell a little white book
with no English title, published by Shanghai Creative Bazaar. It's full of photos
from fifty of the city's most interesting shops, with interviews with their owners,
a blurb on each and all addresses listed in Chinese.
Shops and markets generally open from 10am to 8pm, later in malls; those
with significantly different opening hours are listed. First checking out prices
and goods online can save a lot of time, so useful websites have been listed.
You can exchange goods with a receipt except in small shops. Technically, you
cannot take items out of China that are over 200 years old, but you'd be hard-
pushed to find anything that old in Shanghai anyway. Only in the most high-end
shops will be you able to use a credit card.

What to buy
Shanghai's best buys are: international brand designer clothes from factory
outlet stores such as Hot Wind, where the original label has been snipped off;
low-end electronics such as digital camera and mobile phone memory sticks;
tailored clothes and made-to-order shoes; designer originals by local designers;
fake name-brand labels; DVDs and CDs; and quirky homeware such as
handmade porcelain.
As for souvenirs , well chopsticks, kites, fans, signature chops, tea and teapots
are the perennial favourites, but for some other ideas see p.143.

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