5 guides · What to buy
Shopping in Shanghai
A short list of things genuinely worth carrying home, a long one of things that are not, and a plain account of the scams that operate daily around Nanjing Road.
What is actually worth buying in Shanghai
A short list of things that travel well and are genuinely from here, plus the long list of things that are not.
Nanjing Road and the first-time visitor traps
Not a scam guide so much as a set of specific things that happen every day on this street and are easy to avoid.
Bookshops, stationery and paper goods
Shanghai has excellent bookshops and one of the best stationery streets in Asia. Underrated as souvenirs and very portable.
Malls and department stores
Where prices are fixed, returns exist, and nobody is trying to negotiate with you. Also where the basements are worth going to.
Vintage, antiques and street markets
Interesting, occasionally excellent, and structurally impossible to verify. Go for the experience, not the bargain.
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