Hua Ting Rd. - shopping for faux brands in Shanghai!
Written: Apr 06 '00 (Updated Apr 11 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap, faux brand names of satisfactory quality
Cons: Crowded, dirty, sometimes unfriendly merchants
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Everyone has heard of the huge market in China for faux brand name goods, but where do you find them? I never saw them in the fancy department stores or even in tourist areas, but luckily I had contacts with locals who provided me with the locations of some highly satisfactory shopping locales.
SHOPPING FOR DEALS
I just returned from China two days ago (April 4, 2000), so I'm still recovering from jet lag, but I just had to spread the word about a few places I was lucky to find and other handy tips for my fellow epinion-ers.
My first few days in China were spent in Beijing, where I did not know anyone. However, our local tour guide tipped me off to "Bar Street" (this may be the subject of another epinion review) with its many stalls of Chanel, Gucci, Prada, the North Face, and Nike items. When I arrived in Shanghai (my last stop before returning to California), I was hoping to find a similar place, since I hadn't bought much in Beijing in anticipation of the long travel ahead.
A friend of the family lives in Shanghai so she was a handy source for places off-the-beaten-path. For instance, she recommended Hua Ting Road when I asked for someplace that sold faux brand names.
This is someplace I probably never would have found! It's not really even a road--I couldn't find it on our map of Shanghai when she first told us about it. It's just an alley located off Huanghai Road, which is parallel to Nanjing Road.
THE MANY SPLENDORS OF HUA TING ROAD
The narrow alley has a multitude of stalls filled with names like Prada, Gucci, Rolex, Chanel, Nike, Adidas, Fendi, the North Face, Columbia, and Timberland--all of which are imitations. Yet these aren't glaringly apparent imitations to the untrained eye or the casual observer. I've seen fake Prada bags in New York City that were truly pitiful, but the ones in China seem much closer to the real thing. I would say everything I bought is of satisfactory quality (better, when I consider how cheap it was!)
I saw purses, luggage, clothing, watches, and shoes in the various stalls, ranging from very small Prada cosmetic bags, Ferragamo wallets, and Rolex watches, to large Louis Vuitton suitcases, the North Face down (?) puffy jackets, and Nike shoes. I emerged from Hua Ting Road with a Prada handbag, square-toed leather Prada loafers, a Fendi handbag, and a Valentino handbag. I know, I went a little crazy, but on a student's budget, these items were amazingly affordable after conversion from American dollars to Chinese RMB. I think I spent about US$60 for all these items. The shoes alone are worth more than that!
THE LESS APPEALING ATTRIBUTES OF HUA TING ROAD
First off, as an alley, Hua Ting Road is incredibly narrow and crowded. Travellers should watch their purses carefully, as the crowded nature could encourage shoplifters. But more alarming was the occasional motorcycle or bicyclist riding into the crowd! I was afraid of getting my foot run over by some of the riders. When they honk, turn around and check before moving as they don't always ride down the middle of the lane. I once almost made the mistake of moving to the side before looking!
Also, when I was visiting, it was raining in Shanghai. So it turned muddy quickly, and the rain only exacerbated the unappealing smells. All in all, the weather made the shopping expedition quite uncomfortable and discouraged a lengthy stay. Had it been a nice, sunny day, I probably would've lingered and emerged with far more items!
And, like anywhere else in China, shopping at Hua Ting Road offers the possibility of bargaining. However, some of the merchants here were much more defensive when it came to bargaining and even offered lectures when we tried to negotiate lower prices. We quickly moved on to friendlier merchants, as many of the stalls carry similar if not the exact same items. Yet I still found prices here much higher than at "Bar Street" in Beijing. I bought a Fendi purse for 50 RMB (80 RMB is US$10) in Beijing, but the lowest any of the Shanghainese merchants would offer was 90 RMB (and only after much haggling!). To give some context, one can buy a delicious bowl of noodles for only 5 RMB (less than US$1)!
ONE LAST NOTE
I speak Mandarin/putonghua, so I think my experiences may be different from non-Chinese tourists. In fact, I saw only one non-Chinese person (a white woman) in the alley the entire hour we were there. So I'm not sure how the merchants would treat non-Chinese shoppers. Some of them assumed I was from Singapore, while one actually guessed correctly that I was from the U.S. In either case, I'm sure I had higher opening prices because I wasn't a local. I suspect non-Chinese tourists would receive the same treatment (if not higher prices). Regardless, the deals are amazing and I highly recommend dropping by Hua Ting Road while in Shanghai!
Recommended:
Yes
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