What Not to Pack When Moving to Shanghai: Furniture.

When we contemplate the move to Shanghai, the natural urge is to cram as many of our favourite brands as possible into our suitcases: reader, this not necessary….in some cases at least.

This series of articles will let you know where you can find those staples that you thought you needed to bring (but could have left at home).

Item three on the agenda: furniture.

This one is simple – Do not bring furniture with you. Unless you have decided to relocate to China permanently and are in possession of a fine old family heirloom that you must keep, do not bring your furniture to Shanghai.

Most apartments and houses come already furnished. To make the house your home, it will only be necessary for you to add personal possessions or update furnishings such as curtains, lamps, and bed spreads. You may find a landlord who is willing to compromise further in matters of taste and, occasionally, unfurnished apartments or houses do come on the market. Therefore, if you are in need of furniture, there are a variety of stores, foreign and local, here to help you. A small selection is listed below:

First and foremost, a good place to start is IKEA: generally affordable, of reasonable quality, and with a good range of designs, IKEA furniture and furnishings are well-known across the world. It is located at 126 Caoxi Road, near Shanghai Stadium.

Hola have a good range of furnishings and appliances and in particular, have a lot of designs that might appeal to young kids. They do have a few items of furniture too. The store is located at 88 Xian Xia West Road (near Hami Road).

B&Q have quite a few locations outside the city centre: for instance, 1258 Meichuan Road (Putuo), 108 Gudai Lu (Minhang), and 393 Yinxiao Lu (Pudong). Their website for China is in Chinese only but you can get an idea of the B&Q aesthetic by playing around with the Virtual Room (虚拟家装, the last tab on the orange bar at the top of the screen) application on their site.

There are some large Chinese companies catering to the home furnishings market. JSWB is one of these and has three malls in Shanghai: JSWB Hongqiao Furniture Mall at 75 Lou Shan Guan Road, Hongqiao; JSWB Quyang Furniture Plaza at 800 Quyang Road, Hongkou; and the JSWB Global Home Furnishings Center at 5369 Middle Jiasong Road, Zhaoxiang, Qingpu.

Category of 1 Interiors has an excellent range of modern western furniture and furnishings. They also offer interior design services. They are located at 318 Mingjia Road, Building 1, 3rd Floor, Huacao Town, Minhang District.

One possible alternative to retail is to buy secondhand and this too is possible in Shanghai. ShanghaiExpat’s forums are good place to start looking: our Buy and Sell section often features good quality furniture, furnishings, and appliances that are no longer needed by moving expats. You can also check out:
Cityweekend-Classifieds
Enjoyshanghai-Buy and sell
Urbanatomy-Classifieds

You can also find second hand furniture, bedding, books, kitchen appliances and more from Shanghaisecondhand. They are situated at apartment number 1806, 18F, 288 Changyang Rd in Hongkou District, not far from Dalian Road Station on Line 4.  

To get more opinion on what to bring (and NOT to bring), check out these forum posts:
Things for women wives girls to bring to china
What household items to ship
Second hand furniture and appliances in shanghai

Useful Links:
Relocating to Shanghai - Our Story
www.slumbermaax.com
www.trustmover.com
www.baggagexs.com
www.shanghai-movers.com
www.wangjianshuo.com - BUYING FURNITURE IN SHANGHAI
Journey to the planet of the electro-squids
Absolutely the last post on nasty furniture...