Jiangnan Silk Museum 江南丝绸馆

See how silk is produced from the cocoons of silkworms and turned into the beautiful fabric we all know and love. Silk-filled duvets have excellent value, and the showroom offers everything from small souvenirs to larger items. The beauty of real silk is that it’s so light and packs easily!

• Address: 289 Aomen Road, Putuo District (普陀区澳门路289号)

Yuyuan Bazaar 豫园市场

Shanghai Yuyuan Bazaar

Yuyuan Bazaar has an amazing array of traditional Chinese items, including paintings by folk artists, pearls from Taihu Lake, calligraphy, old bank notes and wood carvings.

Curio Street at Dongtai Road 东台古玩街

Curio Street at Dongtai Road is an antique-hunter’s mecca. Slightly over 200 meters long, the street is lined with more than 125 small shops selling a mind-boggling variety of items. The main products are China wares, bronze wares, jade pieces, bamboo and wood carvings, calligraphy, paintings, badges, Chairman Mao memorabilia, ancient ink, and paper, brushes, pens, and ink slabs. The place remains one of the most popular markets among expats and locals. It is important to remember that most of the items are not genuine. The fun of the place may not be in finding a real antique, but in seeing all of the interesting items and haggling. Haggle hard if you want to purchase something.

And much more!

ex. Jin Mao Tower, Oriental Pearl Tv Tower, The Bund, Xintiandi

• Chinese style of clubbing: splashing out on a table with friends and knocking back bottle service.
• The Glamour Bar. A Bund legacy bar, The Glamour Bar interjects on the superficial character of the district with a little class and maturity. A more relaxed and sedate affair compared to the aforementioned, Glamour Bar pulls in a swanky, older crowd on the weekends, and is generally the go-to nightspot for an affluent mixed crowd, who are, perhaps, a bit beyond “clubbing” in the strictest, go-for-broke sense of it. Located in the Shanghai-famous “5 on the Bund” building, Glamour is a more of a cocktail lounge — Cuban/art deco in theme — with drinks to match, but also check out their cultural events calendar, which includes book launches, guest lectures and salon performances.

• former French Concession
• new hotspots are The Monkey Lounge — a below-the-radar cocktail lounge popular with affluent locals and expats in the know, The Alchemist — a new “molecular gastro-lounge” located in the Sinan Mansions expansion, Lola — a Euro-heavy lounge / state-of-the-art yet smaller dance club in Surpass Court, The Apartment — a New York-styled loft lounge/ restaurant popular with well-to-do expats, and el Coctel — a trendy cocktail-orientated affair with a mature clientele and a by-reservation-only policy on the weekends. All of the aforementioned are “so hot right now” and cater to that roving class of trend-seeking Shanghai residents looking to be seen at the New Thing. Wear something nice. These are by no means the be all and end of what’s out there - why, here’s three more if you’re looking for options: Tara 57, Brownstone, Chicha — but those are your cursory steps into cocktail culture in Shanghai. And yeah: wear something nice.
• Cuvee in Jing’an district is a friendly little wine bar, home to a group of regulars, with frequent deals, and The Fat Olive, another David Larisbrain seed, has recently taken Shanghai by storm with stylish presentation and cheaper prices

• The two standard-setting venues for what can provisionally be termed the “underground” scene in Shanghai are The Shelter and Dada, both of which have embraced the local independent promoter/DJ crew scene. 
• And lastly, looking along music-orientated lines, one more suggestion is club/lounge Lola, which caters to a well-dressed, well-moneyed expat and Chinese crowd, although it’s pretty music-minded with techno, house, and nu disco events.

• With the local Chinese, KTV is king (as the saying goes) in terms of nightlife recreation, and the amount of KTV (Karaoke TV) bars dwarfs any other genre of club.
• The Chinese-managed clubbing franchise Muse currently sets the standard in Shanghai nightlife as the most lucrative and successful set-up and orientation, and has created a whole host of imitators in its wake. Pretenders to the Muse throne open and shut weekly in Shanghai, and the franchise has a total lock on their demographic and what they want. On any given night of the week and at any of the Muse venues, visitors can expect a full house — models and bottles — along with hip hop and/or mash up and/or electro on the system. 
• “Chinese clubs” are great places to search out if you’re not a snob about the decor, are accepting that it’s different strokes for different folks and are looking to travel to where most Westerners fear to tread. The current be-all-and-end all for the true Chinese clubbing experience is No.88, a China-wide franchise with their Shanghai location on Fumin Lu.