Headin to China... need some help...

[mikeyt52]

aight... so i'm gonna be Suzhou for two workday weeks, Shanghai for several days, and Beijing for a weekend. im trying to figure out where to go to shop. places that aren't in travel guides. Places like Reed space, Alife, and all those shops on lafayette in NYC. and on top of clothing stores im lookin for some bookstores like Kinokuniya in Sydney? and maybe some art galleries... i'm a photographer in LA and would love to check out the art scenes at any of these cities. If anyone has any information that'd be awesome... Addresses or websites would be helpfull as well... thanks!

"never disrepect women, cause i love my momma..." -Talib

Edited by mikeyt52 on Sep 13, 2005 at 12:43 AM

[CactusArmy]

Well I know Sydney pretty well, if you got any inquiries PM me.

[rob r]

hey - i live in Shanghai. you're in for an "interesting" trip.

FIRST, resources - obviously check the rather out-of-date Shanghai section on this site [which I have to think about helping update at some point...] and then go to www.smartshanghai.com which is about the best english language site for things Shanghai nightlife, food and culture although has no fashion section as yet [also: stay tuned]. also the new MOCA is opening next week which should be pretty interesting.

SECOND, in terms of stores along the lines of what you're talking about, shanghai is not that sophisticated a market and honestly what you're looking for isn't what you should come here for - the coolest stuff I find is all the random things at markets and what not. as such, the list is pretty short unless you want to go to stores specializing in factory seconds, overruns, several seasons ago and/or knock-offs [TONS of fake dsquared and y-3 right now] of relatively mainstream brands [see below]. this IS china. outside of that here are some of the favorites off top-of-head:

- insh and shirtflag on taikang lu [shanghai-based ready-to-wear and t-shirt labels]

- the I.T shop in Xintiandi for expensive brands [the other 2 locations have crap-to-no selection of men's clothes]

- gloss in Xintiandi [although I think you'll be disappointed]

- 3 on the Bund for Armani and "high-end couture" some of it Shanghai-based

- Bund 18 for mostly high-high end but a really nice renovation

- any of the Doublepark and 5cm shops [private labels of the I.T group] of which I best like the location on Shanxi Lu x Changle Lu for no reason in particular

- The Thing on Changle Lu near Ruijin Lu [shanghai t-shirt label]

- Maxime de Nimes on Shimen Er Lu near Nanjing Lu [French brand of denim that launched here]

- This shop who's name I am forgetting but is on one of the upper floors of CITIC Plaza on Nanjing Lu and has good Adidas and Y-3 all of which I'm close to 100% sure is real.

- I'm missing some but this should be a good start and I'll save the rest for my guide to Shanghai fashion.

like I mentioned, there are literally TONS of little boutiques here and there that have quickly changing inventory [much of which is shady in origin] and change over rapidly themselves. try Changle Lu, Nanchang Lu Maoming Lu, Ruijin Lu plus/or minus a few blocks of Huaihui Lu and around there to get a feel for that and for some of the best ones I've found.

THIRD, books. to be cynical/jaded, don't even waste your time with ANY bookstores outside of the ones in the gift shops of museums and galleries you go to [they DO have some good things to consider purchasing]. if you live here, the english language bookstores are worthwhile because you don't have any other choice but if you don't, they are expensive and frustratingly lacking in content.

Guess I'd say if you have any questions, PM me or something like that I can try to help you out a bit more.

Best,

Rob.

[mikeyt52]

hey thanks rob... im goin to shanghai tomorrow... have been to suzhou and beijing... it's been great so far... im gonna check out some art shows around the city as well as the MOCA... can't wait.. and... can't forget the markets... good deal... thanks for the help!

"never disrepect women, cause i love my momma..." -Talib

[rob r]

cool - have fun - went to the MOCA opening. have to say that I was rather disappointed. design and finishing of the museum was not good and the first show just so-so. but don't worry, there's other stuff. send me a message and I'll see what I can do to hook you up with other stuff to do in SH

[mikeyt52]

hey... yeah... went to the MOCA today... it was.... ok... seems like they rushed putting the show together.... and the photography......... ummm... it was ok... there were a handfull of the bunch that i liked... but the rest weren't of a style that i enjoyed... i went to this...

http://www.smartshanghai.com/en/scripts/event.php?event=1665&type=rng

it was a pretty good show... if you enjoy photography, you might want to check it out... it was free...

i walked all along nanjing dong lu... from near J?.. the mall... and... plaza 66? i think it's called... from there all the way down to the bund... so many shops... im back in suzhou today untill friday and half of saturday... (going back to shanghai)... i really enjoy shanghai... but yeah... if there's other stuff... hook it up... haha... do you know of any places that sell stuff for cheap from the factories?... liiiiiiiike... someone stole some nike's off of the truck or something? haha... thanks again for your help!

mikeyt.

"never disrepect women, cause i love my momma..." -Talib

[fwahlala]

hey.....go to this dinner place call "PEOPLES"......its quite nice.

http://www.timeout.com/travel/shanghai/restaurants.html

and for the stuffs....try the market called XIANG YANG market.....you will be swarmed by people trying to sell you the "stuff"...always counter with an offer at least 60% less.....ahha..enjoy !!

[rob r]

In my opinion, Xiang Yang Market should be avoided altho I did once see a pair of white Nike Force Lows with fake LV leather for the swoosh. If only they'd had my size... If you do go, I would suggest countering with 80% off what they first quote you and not buying anything for less than 60% less than first quoted price.

In terms of finding stuff that's "falling off the truck" you really have to dig. It is easy-easy to find total fakes in places like Xiangyang but the grey market stuff usually requires visiting a lot of shops in/around the streets I mentioned above in my first post.

Restaurant-wise, Peoples [two locations] is quite good food and modern kitchy experience but expensive for the serving size. Really depends on what you're up for - if you have a level of comfort with trying more "local"... would suggest that if you want really good Cantonese food go to Bo Dao Xin Jin in an alley off Fu Xing Lu x Xiang Yang Lu [yes, near the market mentioned above] and you will be very, very happy... for Shanghainese go to either of the two resturants very close to the corner of Jin Xian Lu x Mao Ming Lu on the North side of the street [very small like 6 tables each] and if you can't speak Putonghua just suck it up and point at other peoples' stuff and/or mime your way through it. Also, there's a good [but slightly more expensive than average] DVD shop called Ka De Club a few doors down Jin Xian Lu that is a must visit. There are a hundred other places I could suggest but I'm sure you can find between guide books and web sites.

Have fun.

PS: The MOCA was most disappointing in terms of the building design and construction - generally not good. The Pierre et Giles exhibit was a bit much as a retrospective - too repetative and little progression in terms of a style to support 50+ pieces in my opinion. At least there was a lot of free champagne at the opening...