Chionggirl in Shanghai

One of my main goals for this 8 day holiday is to do shopping. There are many well priced products (translated as CHEAP) in this city and I must get to know them one by one. And so today I did.

I went to Shanghai Science and Technology Museum (the underground shopping at the metro station of the same name, on line 2) on Sunday and bought two fake bags, one Agnes B and one Tods, both seem like they will give way in a couple of months, especially the Tods one. Oh well, the positive side of this is that I can change my bags according to the seasons. Heh...

But they are bit pricey, I paid RMB300 for both. I consider it a price to pay to learn about cheap bargain purchases in Shanghai.

Today, I went to Taobao City 淘宝城 because my colleague recommended it to me. He told me it's the place you see alot of angmohs (Singaporean for 老外，Caucasians) carrying black carrier bags. Indeed it is. In my impression, and after some research, Taobao City is suppose to be the offline version of the famous tabao.com online shopping website. So with hopes that I can get things that I saw on taobao.com.

I proceeded to Nanjing Xi Lu (map and building picture: http://sh.city8.com/key_%E6%B7%98%E5%AE%9D%E5%9F%8E). There is a bus line that brings me directly to this road. You can also take Line 2 and alight at Nanjing Xi Road station and walk about 10 mins to reach there.

The place wasn't what I thought it would be. It's rather run down (the word 宝 has fallen off and no one has replaced the character) and was rather quiet. The centre reminds me of Bangkok's Marbukong Market (MBK is much busier) and some forgotten shopping centres in KL.

Because of my previous experience the day before, I wasn't interested in the bags that were sold there (lesser variety and everyone sells the same thing, almost). The only difference is that there are many shops here that sell Apple iPods. I didn't enquire because I am not very interested in buying them :) I was getting bored after the two floors (i was looking for boots but my big feet found none) and was going to leave, when i saw a lead in on the ground floor.

I stopped at a shop that sold nice looking sweater and I stepped in. I was sucked in there from that moment. After selecting a few nice sweaters, the young girl told me that all my intended purchases will cost RMB1580. As a fairly new shopper in Shanghai, I think its reasonable, but I was not willing to part with this amount of money for a load of sweaters.

The building has shut down its air con and it was getting stuffy. My mind was confused because of the lack of oxygen to the brain (it's true!). I had in mind to get a trenchcoat (i think it is) with a Burberry label on it and some sweaters.

The young girl told me that she had given me a wrong price for that coat and she is not willing to part with it. After some negotiation, I settled for that coat, 2 sweaters, a pair of suede gloves and a long knit top for RMB1100. I thought it's a good price, considering the Burberry lookalike has good workmanship on it (double lining!) and cost RMB460 originally (I went to Taobao.com to do a quick search later on and found that the coats of this nature cost about the same price online).

One thing I have learnt about shopping is that, you have to be firm in negotiating prices. Yours truly has always been the nice person and I seldom haggle with prices, sometimes, I think it is not necessary. The young girl who sold me my bargains today is a good businesswoman. I don't think any young girl her age in Singapore will be able to push a sale like that. They are good with words and will make you feel welcome. She even made me (okay 'made' is a little mean, 'asked' would be a better word) buy her and her colleague a drink when we left the building. Me being me, think its okay lah. Anyway, two cups of milk tea cost $10, won't kill me.

After the purchase, I felt rather troubled as I thought I could've got the tops at a much better price (H&M has similar designs at similar price). But after a few hours, the feeling went away. That's retail therapy for you. I even had a thought on the way home. I think women should be paid more because we help keep the world economy going with our shopping. Can I hear an Amen to that? :)

With this, I conclude my shopping post. I am sure I will be able to find new shopping haunts in the future. You will be the first to read about it here :)

Toodles!