r/shanghai
First time in China - 2 days in Shanghai, need some shopping/travel guide. Help a tourist out! 🙏
First time in China!
- **North Face or any other good jacket place -** Again where can I go and waste little time, maybe somewhere I am already going?
- Again want to be efficient and go to a place that doesnt require much haggling
First time in China! Please help👋 I'm in Shanghai for about 2 days (May 31 - June 1), staying in Jing'an near the Railway Station.
I’m on a guided tour, but I have a little shopping list and looking for places that are genuine, no heavy haggling, and efficient! Google Translate will be my lifeline.
I need the single most efficient route to grab everything on my list within my tour-stop constraints. Here’s my current tour itinerary to show where I’ll be:
Day 1 (May 31):
- Arrive by train around 12PM (currently in another city)
- Oriental Pearl Tower / Lujiazui (Pudong) area (afternoon)
- AP Plaza (quick stop)
- Nanjing Road shopping (evening) (This is probably the best place to get everything??)
- The Bund + River Cruise (night)
Day 2 (June 1): Should I skip some of these?
- Jade Buddha Temple (morning)
- Yuyuan Garden & Bazaar (lunch)
- Silk Factory tour stop
- Zhujiajiao Water Town (afternoon)
- Xintiandi (early evening)
Flying out next day so cant do anything.
MY INTENSE SHOPPING LIST:
- Xiaomi Mi Band 10 + a few other small Xiaomi gadgets, What is the single best Xiaomi Home store that’s directly on or super close to my route? (Pudong? Nanjing Road?)
- Insta360 gimble and accessories - Insta360 has many stores, but I want the one that is in my route or near I'm going already.
- North Face or any other good jacket place - Again where can I go and waste little time, maybe somewhere I am already going?
- Certified Jade earrings (small, simple pair) - Need a highly reputable jewelry store as I heard there are many fakes?? Again want to be efficient and go to a place that doesnt require much haggling
- Niche but yea, headphones (IEMs) \- I was planning to sneak off to Jaben 618 or Soundluck on Middle Zhejiang Road during the Nanjing Road stop. I'm looking for some eartips like Azla, Superfit and want to get IEMS like Moondrop, Letshuoer IEMS
Can I cluster any of these items together? Is there one shopping mall on my route that might check off 3 or 4 of these categories in one go? Hope I've been able to explain as clearly as possible.
Any firsthand tips will be appreciated forever! Please help a first-timer out.
🙏 Thank you! The photo kinda looked aesthetic so used it
Hit some bars in the French quarter. There is a TNF band store and also Patagonia on the carry center. While there, go to the Jingan Temple. There is an entire jade and jewelry market somewhere asking line 12 but this I have to double check. And if you need further advice, dm me, I’m landing tomorrow. Lived in SH for quite some time and return frequently.
Most of this clusters around Nanjing Road East — it's electronics + jewelry central, and it's probably already a tour stop.
— Xiaomi: there's a Xiaomi Home on the Nanjing Rd East pedestrian street — Mi Band 10 and the small gadgets, fixed price, no haggling.
— IEMs: your Jaben/Soundluck plan on Middle Zhejiang Rd is spot on, 3 min off Nanjing Rd East — best in the city for Moondrop/Letshuoer plus Azla/SpinFit tips.
— Jade: skip the small tourist shops (fakes + markup live there). The Lao Feng Xiang 老凤祥 flagship on Nanjing Rd East is state-owned, certified, fixed price, zero haggling.
— North Face + Insta360: easiest to grab in one mall — HKRI Taikoo Hui in Jing'an is closest to you.
Everything in malls is fixed-price, so don't bother haggling unless you end up at a market like AP Plaza.
Watertown Costs a Lot of time, one hour each way maybe skip that
Check out the French Concession for sure. Lots of nice cafes, restaurants, gelato, etc. And quite walkable!
U probably need to skip Nanjing road East and just go to Nanjjng road West, more to view from the largest Starbucks factory store to the Louis Vuitton ship, and Wujiang road, Zhang Yuan in the same area definitely way more to look and experience
Forgot Google Maps, it does Not Work. Apple Maps ist ok If you have an iPhone. There are many malls around najing road, you should find everything there.
Super Brand Mall on pudong Side may be an Option
Yes Insta360 is confirmed there, I'm not sure about Xiaomi.. Do you have access to AMAP and can you confirm if XIaomi is nearby?
Xiaomi is confirmed there. I have been to that shop before
Its not letting me access, if you have access please DM or copy paste what it says
Wait is this possible?? Damn How to do this? Alipay has this?
Download TaoBaoShanGou or MeiTuan. It’s the delivery driver kind of things. You can get them to be a personal shopper, though you might need to give them rather specific instructions. This is your best bet to get everything
Do you still need a guide. just looking for a part-time job as a local guide. I am available at night or afternoon today.
- Nanjing Road shopping (evening) (This is probably the best place to get everything??)
It's mostly a place for visitors and tourists. Most locals don't go there for their regular shopping, and prices tend to be higher than average.
If you're looking for something more local, I'd recommend checking out some of the stores around Xintiandi instead.
As a local, I'd definitely recommend 上生新所 and 张园. It's a great place to grab a meal, have a coffee, and take a break .
I'm actually thinking of doing the jacket shopping and the IEM headphones shopping there in Nanjing Road, as it has the official stores like North Face, Li-ling, Bensing, and also the oldest jewelry store is there right for the jade
Xiaomi Mi Band 10 + a few other small Xiaomi gadgets, What is the single best Xiaomi Home store that’s directly on or super close to my route? (Pudong? Nanjing Road?)
Most malls would have a Mi shop, but...
Insta360 gimble and accessories - Insta360 has many stores, but I want the one that is in my route or near I'm going already.
Left Shanghai last year, hadn't really seen "many stores" for Insta360, not even one.
Niche but yea, headphones (IEMs) \- I was planning to sneak off to Jaben 618 or Soundluck on Middle Zhejiang Road during the Nanjing Road stop. I'm looking for some eartips like Azla, Superfit and want to get IEMS like Moondrop, Letshuoer IEMS
Wow. Been ages since I've read any mention of Soundluck!
So, since you're strapped for time, best way to do this really is: contact your hotel, or see if any local contact can purchase for you on JD.com (for Mi and Insta360), in case the stores you visit don't have the specific gadgets and accessories you're looking forward to buying. That just saves you the pressure of completing your checklist, because if you do have a chance to visit a physical shop, you're still good, because you have what you want already.
As for checking headphones, I'd highly suggest checking with the actual headphone shops via Wechat before you visit to check what they have. If they don't have what you're looking for, include in your JD.com loot.
Your Day 2:
Jade Buddha Temple (morning)
Too out of the way. Yuyuan Garden has its own City God Temple. Your other options: There's always Jing'an Temple, or the much bigger Longhua Temple. Both have their own metro stops.
Zhujiajiao Water Town (afternoon)
There's always Qibao, has its own metro stop, and you can stay there and take pictures for 30mins to 1 hour and leave.
Xintiandi (early evening)
Sure, but look up places like the Former French Concession, or some other low-key activities/places. Xintiandi is crowded and not really essential in my book.