Best Shops in Asia?

[straight cash homey]

Hey guys,

I need some advice. I'm gonna be in Asia from Oct. 29 thru Nov.19. I plan on going to Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo, visiting family and seeing the sites. It's the first time I've been back to Asia since I was like 8 yrs old, so basically I consider myself an Asian virgin (errr…that doesn't sound too good). In any case, it will be a pretty jam-packed trip and I want to make sure I make the most of my limited time to shop for clothes. Can you guys please recommend some stores/brands that are unique to the region? Stuff that isn't readily available in North America. If you could just list your top 5 "must-visit stores" in any of the above cities, it would be greatly appreciated, and it will give me a good starting point since supercities/supermaps can be a little overwhelming and sometimes out of date. Stuff along the lines of Visvim, Neighborhood, etc...It would also help if you could briefly mention why you consider each of them a "must-visit". Recommendations for restaurants, clubs, tourist attractions are also welcome. Also, if anyone happens to be in any of these cities during this time and want to meet up for drinks or something, feel free to PM or get at me via myspace (www.myspace.com/youngsev)

Thanks in advance for your help, it is most definitely appreciated!

P.S. I've got places to stay in China and Taipei, but I plan on staying in a youth hostel in Tokyo, anyone had any experiences with hostels in Tokyo? Sketchy or a good look?

[poly800rock]

check the superfuture maps

[straight cash homey]

i mentioned in my post that the superfuture maps can be overwhelming and out of date...plus there's over 650 entries for these cities, even if i go through them all i still won't know which places are good or not. i have limited time to shop so i was hoping people could just give me their top 5 favs...

[Kasper]

i mentioned in my post that the superfuture maps can be overwhelming and out of date...plus there's over 650 entries for these cities, even if i go through them all i still won't know which places are good or not. i have limited time to shop so i was hoping people could just give me their top 5 favs...

as far as Tokyo goes, there's seriously a thread a week about the city, just search around and you can find much more info that you actually need. for limited shopping, just go to Harajuku/Omotesando and Shibuya/Dainkanyama. i could seriously spend a millions dollars easily in a day there and i cannot think of many things that you wouldn't be able to find in tokyo. and the maps are actually pretty usefull. Djrajio posted a link to a better, but perhaps less exhaustive map from Men's Non-no, but i'm too lazy to look for it. just check it out.

[herpsky]

tokyo: that street with BWS and NBHD in harajuku

that area in aoyama with CDG, loveless, and stuff

The so-called select shops are always a good option: Beams, united arrows, nano universe, urban research, haight tokyo, jag mart,