CBD Shopping: Craziness Both High and Low

The annual Guomao Shopping Bazaar is once again upon us and the masses have descended upon Guomao to fight their way through the crowds in search of major bargains. In reality, the Bazaar is a complete waste of time, as by the time you read this, all the good stuff has been picked over and many of the items look like they are outlet or made for China type things you'd never see in the brand's regular store. For guys there is very little to choose from, though Pink has some decent shirts for RMB850 (though many are from LAST winter's collection). Also, some decent Paul Smith (starting around RMB4100) and Neil Barrett suits (RMB5200) at the Lane Crawford stall, but that's about it.

In the middle of high and low is the new tshirt and bag store SQY-T, with some incredibly interesting designs and stores in Beijing and Shanghai, well worth checking out

At the other end of the fashion scale, an interesting "night market" environment has suddenly been created at the southwest corner of Guomao Bridge, running from the corner to the street dividing Yintai and Jianwai Soho. Everything from traditional winter food options like sweet potato, corn, and pineapple to gloves, sweaters, bags, dvds, jewelry, and small household goods are sold on the sidewalk and from the trunks of cars in this small stretch. It will be interesting to see how long this "market" is allowed to continue.