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Shopping in Shanghai is not what it's cracked up to be

ShanghaiJune08%20003.jpg
I just got back from a 10 day visit to Shanghai China on what I imagined would be the ultimate shopping experience. I just knew I was going to have sooo much to blog about when I got back!! Everyone always raves about their shopping experiences in China!

Twenty five years ago I did a whirlwind tour of China, the last stop was Shanghai. Enchanted with the city, three days were not nearly enough. I left with that nagging feeling that I'd only scratched the surface of a very exciting city. I’ve been following Shanghai’s explosive growth through the media, I read voraciously about the wonderful restored neighborhoods, new architecture, restaurants and museums. I was haunted with the desire to return.

Shanghai is still an exciting city, barely recognizable from the Shanghai I visited in 1984, but it was fun to explore just the same. As for shopping, it’s not a tax free haven like Hong Kong, which is a shoppers paradise. Even the Shanghianese make regular shopping trips across the border to Hong Kong. In Mainland China there is a 33% tax on imported goods. The big shopping streets in Shanghai, Nanjing Road and HauiHai Road are bustling with designer stores, but there are no deals there. For example, a pair of Nine West shoes was $150. Shopping in beautiful stores that are way more expensive than home is not fun for this bargain hunter!!

So I avoided the malls, and hit the markets. The huge black market for fake designer goods keeps these markets bustling, even with supposed police crackdowns. There are aggressive hawkers everywhere shoving purse pictures in your face as they yell the only three words they know in English “Watch bag lady.” I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a real $20 Target purse than a fake Louis Vuitton for the same price.

Displays of fake Tiffany silver, and every imaginable brand of watch abound. I left my good watch at home, scared by the string of Rolex robberies in South Florida…I didn’t want to get mugged in a country where the police don’t speak my language. I was lost without my timepiece, so when I got there I bought a $15 'Georgio Armani' watch (I hope the cops don't read my blog) which quit working before I got back to my hotel. Kind of proves the old adage "you get what you pay for."

I don't give up easily, and I did manage to buy enough goodies that I had to buy an extra suitcase to get it all home. I have work to do right now, have to get the newspaper out, but I'll tell you in my next blog about my China purchases.

Maybe you have some China shopping tips, in case any of our readers are going!

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Saw my friend Kathy on the Sun Sentinel front page which I check every day...didn't even know she went to Shang Hai (sp.)...hope you are well and maybe do some downtown lunch soon! Nellie

I am a friend of Kathy's and trying to find her blog. Could you pass my email and contact info to her. SHe will know who I am. Thanks

Hi Kathi ! I am a real estate sales expert ( translate that to bargain hunter extraordinaire ) in NYC and will be attending 2 trade shows in Shanghai in a couple of weeks. I'd like to know how you managed to fill your bag ( in spite of great bargains being even harder to find) as well as to invite any friends you met there to the "by invitation only" shows.
Please contact me with your phone or email so that we can chat.
Thanks and best to you,
Lynda

Hi Lynda- I can't answer you on your private email via this blog. I have to do a public posting, I guess. I hope you check back!! Email me at khaines@sun-sentinel.com.

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The Shop-O-Matic Team

Kathy Haines, a former teacher of the History of Architecture and Interior Design, is now a part of the Sun-Sentinel photography team... < More >

Erika “Frugal Fashionista” Pesantes a Sun-Sentinel's municipal reporter ... < More >

Marcia Heroux Pounds is the Sun-Sentinel's workplace columnist ... < More >

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