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Many foreigners may know Shanghai (and other Chinese cities) mostly by the faded pictures of China's past with its traditional tile-roofed buildings, shared toilets and simple rooms that seem more closely aligned with opium dens than modern-living. 

Of course, today, Shanghai is a modern city with huge malls, some of the world's tallest buildings and cutting edge homes. While most of this remembered past is quickly fading away with China's momentum to pave a way to the future, pockets of this amazing history do exist
and are just minutes away from central Shanghai.  Exploring areas behind some of the most bustling streets you can still find homes that are over 100 years old along with their layered history of pipes, wires and "updates" that coat the area in attempts to keep them up to date.

Unfortunately, many of the rows of these historic, traditional buildings and homes have over 90% of their doors and windows already bricked, blocked or plywooded in preparation for their destiny of being razed as soon as the last resident departs.  Other homes have the mark of "please board me up" ready to go as soon as the home owner gives in to the government's incentives to move. 

If you have an interest in this past, we recommend a walking tour or bike tour that takes you down some of these backstreets of old Shanghai. This allows you to step in these historic homes and hear the stories of the locals that still live there. A truly memorable experience that won't be available soon. Learn more about our Backstreets of Old Shanghai Bike Tour. 

We hope to see you in Shanghai soon and would love to share this amazing experience with you. 
Jenny

While China has cracked down a lot on imitations of famous brands, there are still many bargains to be had on great products at Shanghai's "copy market" such as the one Inside metro Line 2's, Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, 2000 Shiji Da Dao, near Yingchun Lu. 

Of course, you must negotiate to get the deals! 

If you've been to one of these markets, you are very familiar with the process. You casually find something that catches your eye. Your interest piques until you finally ask, "How much is this?" The sales person nicely pulls out a calculator, enters the price and shows it to you with some reinforcement of "best price for you,"  "great price for this quality," etc. From here the fun begins. 

The amount of negotiation you can do is very dependent on several factors such as how many you want, the type of product and even the time of day. I won't try to give a detailed account of how much discount you can expect for every factor, but good negotiation comes down to some very simple practices: 

1. Know your prices - I wouldn't buy something unless you've looked around at similar products to get an idea of the general prices. Keep asking for their lowest price until it looks like they won't move further and then walk away. 
2. Start at 10% of the initial price - On many items, such as clothes, the markup for foreigners can be huge. Many foreigners use the 20% rule - that the final price will be about 20% of the asking price - but I've seen prices go for even less... particularly if you're buying more than one. Some categories don't have this much margin such as electronics or toys, so go back to strategy #1.
3. Walk away - You'll never get the lowest price until you walk away. The price usually quickly gets close to the lowest price they'll take. If they aren't running after you then your last offer is lower than they'll take. 
4. Don't worry about anger - A common tactic is for the sales person to appear angry or insulted by your low price offer. Don't worry, it's mostly an act, so just stay objective and go for the best price you're willing to pay. 
5. Be nice - I've found that sales people genuinely like to help nice customers. They'll be willing to give you that little bit extra if you respect them and aren't being an a*$#(*&#.

If you want to try your hand at negotiating at these hectic markets, we're always happy to include it in your tour! 
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Happy shopping and we hope to see you in Shanghai soon!  ​
​Jenny