Shanghai has a lot of great places to shop. Malls in Xujiahui, Nanjing Rd, and the new SuperBrand Mall are all places to start browsing. However, where can you really get the best deals? It takes some digging and getting off the beaten path a bit to find those kind of deals.

Electronics
If you are shopping for computer equipment locally, Xujiahui stands out. There are 2 huge electronics malls around the corner from the shopping center with the big glass dome. This is best place to start for computer electronics.


Clothing
For clothes, it depends on what size you are. If you are big Western guy like me, you have to do some digging but it's not impossible. If you are a smaller size - about the size of most of the local folks - you should be able to find some nice things pretty easily.

Xiangyang market (Xiangyang Rd and Huaihai Rd) is an obvious place to start -- but this has gotten a lot of notoriety (good and bad). My wife finds great deals on Shimen Yi Rd near Nanjing West Rd and a couple of blocks over on Shanxi Rd. There are mostly small storefronts, so you have to do some looking around and some bargaining. We were able to find some great silk Tommy Bahama shirts for 100 RMB (they were USD 90 up in Hawaii when we were there) AND they were in my size (XXL). We found some great silk T-shirts for 20 RMB each after negotiations. However, for every great deal you find at these places, you usually have to look at 20 or 30 pieces that are not so great.

If you are BIG, it may be to your advantage to go to a tailor. We shopped around a bit. I needed a suit and my wife needed some dresses made. We were referred to Danielles on Fahuazhen Rd near Huaihai Rd. It's a tiny little storefront, but they really know what they are doing. I picked up a great suit with two pairs of pants and shirts for about 1800 RMB. You should probably shop for the material you want separately and then take it to have it made into what you want. Their fabric selection is limited but their tailoring is great.

Around Yuyuan, you can buy all the souvenir type stuff. Keep in mind that the first price they quote is usually double or more over what they will take. But there are great assortment of gift items, jewelry, posters, and some antiques. There also clothes -- one shop keeper ran out of one of the department stores one day and pulled us inside. Usually I don't give in to this, but she assured us she had something. She pulled out a pretty nice Columbia down jacket (at least USD 120 in the US) that had been sitting on her shelf for two years (she said). It was BIG (XXL) and she had never had a buyer before us. We got it for 150 RMB (USD 19). Great deal.

Furniture
Having purchased an apartment, we spent an inordinate amount of time shopping for furniture. We picked and visited every furniture mall in town. A couple of antique-looking old pieces we got from a place in Hongqiao (lots of antique shops on Hongqiao Rd). For something in the contemporary style, we got the best deal on stuff at the Yuexing Furniture Mall on Amen Rd near the Red Chicken restaurant. Drivers know it (Hongji). For all the extra little bits and pieces, we made a buy at Ikea near the Shanghai Stadium.

Books
The best place, especially for English language books, is Fuzhou Lu.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of shopping in Shanghai. There is a lot more and things change almost daily.. so be willing to explore.