Must-Buy of Shanghai

I love Shanghai, and I have to admit, I love shopping there even more! Here are some of the places that I suggest to drop by to purchase awesome souvenirs home! 

1. Park Hotel Bakery

This is a must-buy. I love their butterfly pastry so much that I would beg anyone who go there to bring some back. The queue is insanely crazy, so tips would include getting someone to queue/ buy for you. (Any sort of service is available in China!) Or simply just staying at the hotel itself - you are entitled to purchasing a huge box of the original without queueing. 

That's what we did, it is close to a lot of shopping malls and the room was huge. The design was a bit dated, but honestly I could leave with that. Also, every day I come home, I would monitor the queue, if it is not as long, I would quickly hop in to buy the other flavours/ varieties. The hotel itself is also a historical monument, making it an attraction itself. 

2. Tianzifang

Although some people may deem it to be too touristy, but I actually enjoyed shopping the most there because it consolidated a number of popular Shanghai brands there. One of my favourite is Qingzi's Hand Cream. The packaging is so pretty with free engraving and it makes an amazing, customised gift for friends back home. Also, you can find the white rabbit sweets and I bought a whole bunch of flavours which I couldn't find at home for my coworkers.

Within, we also found a bathbomb shop (quite affordably priced) and bought 3 home. Though I regretted not getting more cos the quality is super good and very fragrant. Yi Ben Hao Su was very popular with the Gen Z, they had a very beautiful set of photograph postcards, but I just didn't have any use for them. Blan Bunny's Plant Kingdom had amazing tea sets too, but I just didn't know how to bring back. I also helped to bring back Lu Shanghai Tees back for a friend. There was also this shop that sold metal products - like scissors/ knives etc. which we bought quite a bit from. 

3. Feiyue Shoes

The husband saw an article on them and we decided to just hunt it down to purely check it out. We tried them and found they were affordable and comfortable. We bought home 7 pairs of shoes. There were a lot of designs. Personally, I feel they will eventually trend. But before they do, you can get them cheap and lead the trend. I thought I would be the only one interested at the shop, but was surprised to find 1-2 other foreigners there as well. Remember, you heard it from me here :P. I know it is crazy, but once I spoil my 2 pairs, I am flying back to shop for more. 

4. Songmont

A lot of people were talking about it already. So I decided to go to their flagship shop to take a look. Honestly, you can buy online. It is slightly cheaper there. And also, I didn't get any tax refund. (It was so difficult to do the Chinese VAT refund. To date, I still don't know if I am not entitled or I didn't fill up enough funds.) 

I guess it is always good to see before buying, because I totally could not pull off their more popular series. I ended up getting an exclusive coloured bag instead. I use it and I like it. It is not very loud and a well-designed bag. Does it look its price? Probably not. But I own a few of such quiet luxury items already, so maybe that's my thing. Most people do walk out with something. But I have done more researches on the Chinese bag brands after and I feel like next round I will check out other bags, maybe as an investment. :D