Shopping in Shanghai runs along two parallel east-west streets about a kilometre apart. Nanjing Road cuts from the Bund straight into the centre of the city, and Huaihai Road lies to the south, threading through the old French Concession and the commercial districts around it. Each has its own character, and the stretch between them holds most of what a visitor wants.
Nanjing Road
The pedestrian section between People's Square and the Bund is the most crowded shopping street in China, with well over a million people passing through on a busy day. It is lined with flagship stores, department stores, jewellery shops, street food stalls and neon. The eastern end, Nanjing Road East, is the classic experience with trams, crowds and a wall of advertising. If you want quiet, walk west of People's Square along the same street, where the shops become more ordinary and less expensive.
Huaihai Road
Huaihai Road Middle is where Shanghai shops for fashion. The street runs through the old French Concession beneath plane trees, and the buildings are lower, older and better looking than on Nanjing Road. International brands sit beside Chinese labels, and the side streets hold small boutiques, stationers, shoe shops and cosmetics stores. Several of the city's best-known department stores are here, including long-established Chinese houses and a large Japanese-owned store. The pace is calmer and the clientele noticeably more local.
Buying things worth taking home
Shanghai's own specialities are qipao tailoring, silk, tea, Chinese stationery and food gifts. Tailors in the South Bund Fabric Market will make a qipao or a suit in a few days, and the department stores carry good tea, dried fruit and pastries in gift packaging. Note that prices on the main streets are fixed, unlike at the markets; the department stores are not places to bargain, though independent boutiques sometimes are.
Practical notes
Both streets are served by multiple metro lines - People's Square on Lines 1, 2 and 8 for Nanjing Road, and South Huangpi Road on Line 1 or Shaanxi South Road on Lines 1 and 10 for Huaihai Road. Shops generally open at ten in the morning and close around ten at night. Weekends are extremely busy, and the last weekend before Lunar New Year is the most crowded of the year. Taxis are easier to find on Huaihai Road than on the pedestrian section of Nanjing Road.
