Shanghai markets

A.P. Plaza (Yada Shenghui Lu[Gum]You Gouwu Guangchang) -- For those who don't have the patience to rifle through the mess of shops at Qipu Market, but still want their Western-branded knockoffs, this underground plaza in the Science and Technology Museum subway station (Metro Line 2) in Pudong offers a more organized alternative. Individual shops here sell clothing, electronics, bags, toys, antiques, shoes, and accessories, though the brand-name knockoffs are usually hidden. The plaza is open daily 10am to 8pm.

Dongtai Lu Antiques Market (Dongtai Lu Guwan Shichang) -- This largest of Shanghai's antiques markets has hundreds of stalls and many permanent shops along a short lane, located on Dongtai Lu and Liuhe Lu, 1 block west of Xizang Nan Lu, Luwan (about 3 blocks south of Huaihai Lu). Dealers specialize in antiques, curios, porcelain, furniture, jewelry, baskets, bamboo and wood carvings, birds, flowers, goldfish, and nostalgic bric-a-brac from colonial and revolutionary days (especially Mao memorabilia). When it rains, most stalls aren't open, but the stores are. The market is open daily 9am to 5pm.

Fuyou Market -- If you like rummaging through lots of junk for the chance to find the rare real nugget, this is still the best place to do it in Shanghai. This favorite for weekend antique and curio hunting, located in the Cangbao Lou (building) at Fangbang Zhong Lu 457 and Henan Nan Lu (the western entrance to Shanghai Old St. in the Old Town Bazaar, Nanshi) is also called a "ghost market" because the traders set out their wares before sunrise (when only ghosts can see what's for sale). Come as early as possible on Saturday or Sunday morning, preferably the latter, when vendors come in from the surrounding countryside. The goods are various and few are polished up; many of the items are from the attic or the farm, though increasingly also from some factory backroom that churns out modern pieces that are then scuffed up with mud to look old. Porcelains, old jade pendants, used furniture, Qing Dynasty coins, Chairman Mao buttons, old Russian cameras, Buddhist statues, snuff bottles, and carved wooden screens are just a few of the treasures here, none with price tags. Three floors of the market building are open daily from 9am to 5pm; the weekend market (on the third and fourth floors) runs from 5am to 6pm, but tapers off by noon.

Qipu Lu Wholesale Clothing Market (Qipu Fuzhuang Shichang) -- For years, this gargantuan clothing market bounded by Qipu Lu, Henan Bei Lu, Tiantong Lu, and Zhejiang Lu in Hongkou district has been where locals shop for low-cost, locally made daily clothing and accessories, but is now home also to some of the vendors of brand-name "fakes" who have been displaced by the closing of Xiangyang Market. Because of its size (three complexes spanning as many blocks), you'll need some patience and time to make your way through much that will probably not be to your taste, but finds can definitely be found. More likely, the vendors of the goods you're looking for will find you the minute you step out of your taxi. As always, exercise caution and stick to the public stalls and shops. The market is open daily 10am to 5pm.