What to do: Shopping

Nanjing Road

China's premier shopping street, 3.4-mile-long Nanjing Road, starts at the Bund in the east and ends in the west at the junction of Jingan Temple and Yan'an West Street situated in Shanghai. Today Nanjing Road is a must-see metropolitan destination attracting thousands of fashion-seeking shoppers from all over the world.

After the Opium War (1839-1842), Shanghai became a treaty port. Nanjing Road was first the British Concession, then the International Settlement. Importing large quantities of foreign goods, it became the earliest shopping street in Shanghai.

Over time, Nanjing Road has been restructured, undergoing significant change. For shopping convenience, its eastern end has an all-weather pedestrian arcade. Big traditional stores no longer dominate the market since modern shopping malls, specialty stores, theatres, and international hotels have mushroomed on both sides of the street.

Today over 600 businesses on Nanjing road offer countless famous brands, superior quality, and new fashions. KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and other world-famous food vendors line both sides of the street. Upscale stores include Tiffany, Mont Blanc, and Dunhill. In addition, approximately a hundred traditional stores and specialty shops still provide choice silk goods, jade, embroidery, wool, and clocks.

Open-air bars, abstract sculptures, and lingering sounds from street musicians enhance evening strolls. A trackless sightseeing train provides a comfortable tour of the night-transformed pedestrian street. Flashing neon signs illuminate the magnificent buildings and spangle the night skyline of this lively city.


Wang Fu Jing

Wangfujing street and its surroundings have quite a selection of shopping options. There are two western style, modern malls. One has an English name written on it saying "Sun Dong An", which is confusing because its Chinese name is "Xin Dong An". This one is the older of the two, situated on the center crossroads of Wangfujing street, 12 minutes walk north of the subway station. It has 6 floors of shops and some pretty glass elevators. Here you can find fashion stores, souvenirs, cafes and restaurants, a cinema and a built-in large department store with some reasonably priced high-quality electronics.

The second of the two malls is near the subway and is called Oriental Plaza. This is a huge complex and one of the biggest malls in Asia. It has only 2 floors, but it stretches for a few city blocks. It is so big there are subway stations more or less at each end. It takes about 15 minutes to walk the length, if you are a quick walker. Oriental Plaza has many fashion stores, a lot of cafes and restaurants, a cinema, an Apple Computer center, VW Audi car showroom, Sony science exhibition center, banks and lots more.

Apart from the malls there are many large, tradional department stores, souvenir stores, and a side street with tradional Chinese food stalls. Wangfujing is not merely a shopping street but a whole experience. There are often large exhibitions and festivals held on the street.

Wangfujing is located pretty much in the center of Beijing and is not too far from Tiananmen Square. You can get there by subway. The Wangfujing station (118) on Line 1 has an exit which takes you directly into Oriental Plaza. The other option is to go by taxi. The south end has a large taxi rank, opposite the Beijing Hotel. The rank is the only place where taxis are allowed to drop off or pickup, so don't try stopping one anywhere else when you leave.