shanghai and southern comfort *
[update! i'm flying back home to brooklyn today so i'll be back tomorrow. have a lovely tuesday!] hi everyone! i'm down south today celebrating my dad's birthday so i'll be out for the day, but i just wanted to reach out because the lovely frida of designmouse and husmusen (fabulous blogs if you don't know them already- husmusen is responsible for some of the greatest finds- frida is a phenomenal researcher) emailed me to ask for design shop/destination suggestions for shanghai. she's heading there for a project and needs our help! does anyone know of great design stores or must-visits in that area? [funny side note, my friend who's current working in china said d*s is banned in china, along with most blogs, bc the govn't thinks they may contain "nefarious" content. too funny!] so, thanks for any suggestions!
in addition, i'll be back soon with fresh content (including a fresh mini trend!) and some great new content to come later this week. i'm so excited...xo, d*s [ps: in case you missed it, be sure to log on this saturday and sunday for weekends at d*s- there will be fresh content and some exciting extra features coming this weekend!]
posted by design*sponge @ 20.3.06
12 Comments:
I don't read chinese, but I know that www.hi-id.com is a chinese design blog...(it may be corporately run) or at least i think i know that!!! check it out and see if it has any stuff on it (a lot of it tends to be western though!)
k
there's a big muji on nanking (also where a lot of the swank western chain shops are, chloe, vuitton, of course interspersed with starbucks), the antiques market is a ton of fun for random tongue in cheek mao ephemera and cheap jewelry and awesome bargaining, there's a good little sourcebook called Shanghai Style (a tiny square book) with all sorts of listings of cute boutiques in the French Concession etc. there were a bunch listed that I was dying to get to but didn't have time. It is sooo much fun! xiantiandi is a supposed designy district (high end) but its sort of a mall, Faneuil Hall style (historic redone)--see Paul Goldberger's story in the NYer a couple months ago.
Departures magazine (it's marketed to Platinum American Express card holders and is a bit high-end) did a special on China last fall. We used it on our trip to Hong Kong (business) and Beijing (touring). There was a section on Shanghai, too. The link is http://www.departures.com/china/shopping.cfm
i love shanghai! i was there in 2004 and had a great time poking around for stores, although i only have notes on a couple of them:
madame mao's dowry (great name for a store!) at 70 fuxing lu.
shanghai trio at lane 181 tai cang road (close to huangpi south road) if i remember correctly, this is near the mall-like area called xin tian di (mentioned in the comment above). there are other design-oriented stores there, one of which may be called stationery life. although, it is more tourist-focused and the prices higher as a result.
we also stayed in a great boutique hotel called old house inn. the inn owners were great and the place is really adorable.
if you have other specific questions, feel free to email me. and if i think of anything else, i'll post again.
Be sure to go to the teahouse in the Yanling (sp?) Gardens which is the bigget tourist attraction in town but is really worth a sit down for tea. The women waitresses pour the steaming tea in long streams way above your tea cup and Queen Elizabeth and many other celebrities have been there.
shanghai trio is a great, locally designed label that fuses french style and classic chinese elements. (lots of home linens, plus clothes and accessories.) they have a small shop in xintiandi (a must-stop area on its own for its cute little cafes and shops) but a better one on fuxing xilu, where they keep past collections as well.
and any design enthusiast must, must, must go to spin ceramics on julu lu. it's full of amazing pieces.
the taikang lu art warehouse area is full of cool little shops and worth an afternoon. my favorite is shirtflag, a t-shirt and accessories line by some local graphic designers. their little notebooks are especially great.
what i'd really suggest is that you get your hands on a luxe guide (www.luxecityguides.com). it's got a fabulous, flamboyant voice and is dedicated to discovering the best little design and arts-y boutiques arount town. (and, when you're done with that, it has good restaurant and activity suggestions too.) i abuse it every time i go to shanghai -- or anywhere new in asia for that matter.
don't forget to have some xiaolongbao, the specialty shanghai soup dumplings! they're quite possibly my favorite food in the world.
Creative Industry is blooming in Shanghai recent years. Tianzifang,Taikang road 210/Moganshang road 50 /bund 18/Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art...Lots place you should visit in shanghai, I can't list all of them here. And I can't find a good web which introduce chinese design news in English version, but you can contact with me by jackiel@etang.com.
By the way, we can read d.s every day, and I'm in Shanghai now. Maybe d.s is just banned by your friend's company, it's common in China.
i love this site!
i'm planning my wedding and am in search for cute designer cakes. the closest thing i could find is the cake on the homepage of lovin sullivan cakes: http://www.cakepower.com/
any suggestions?
I agree with most of the above comments, and also suggest the fashion boutiques on Xinle Rd. While you're there, stop by Boonna cafe and you're sure to meet some design-oriented locals and expats.
The art galleries on Moganshan Rd and the Duolun MOMA may be of interest as well.
Thank you so much for all the information! I really appreciate it. I have only been to Shanghai once, that was last summer, and I didn't find much interior design then (more fashion and clothes). I think this trip will definitively be more arts and design focused thanks to you and all ideas you have been sharing.
happy birthday to your dad!
Dabney and Betsy got the best ones right. And the Donjaidu Cloth Market is amazing for custom shirts (for about $15 bucks including fabric). You can go design crazy!
Other Resources:
http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/
http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/
http://shanghai.craigslist.org/
And....the day trip to Suzhou for temples and silks rock. Take the last train back so you'll have time for the Night Market and a pedicab.
S
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