One of the most important aspects of settling into life in Shanghai, is furnishing your home. Luckily, you can find everything you need to buy in Shanghai without having to ship everything over.
Settling into life in the city is made a lot easier with the option to buy your own furniture, and hiring domestic help in Shanghai.
New Furniture
IKEA
Shanghai has two main IKEA shops, one on the Puxi side, and one in Kangqiao in Pudong. Shopping at IKEA in China is an experience in itself, with many familes going for a day trip, and testing out every item of equipment, including leaving grandad to have a nap in one of the beds! The stores stock everything you need to furnish a home relatively inexpensively, with cheap delivery and contruction options.
HEC (Hotel Equipment Corporation)
345 Aomen Lu
This blue building sits in Jing An and is primarily for hoteliers looking to kit out their restaurants. However, you can buy individual items for knockdown prices and everything you could ever want to bake with. Clingfilm to rolling pins, HEC has you covered.
Qing Fang Fabric Market
1618 Caoan Lu
(From Time Out Shanghai) Qing Fang is a one-stop shop for bespoke furnishings that are half the price of massproduced IKEA ware. The three floors of stalls are refreshingly crowd-free (on a weekday), though it’s best to avoid the west end of the building, where the quality diminishes. Home furnishings and fabrics are on the bottom floor, and accessories on the third (avoid the second, which is all North Face knock-offs and rubbish suitcases).
Vintage Furniture
Dongtai Lu
Soon to be demolished vintage market Dongtai Lu sells everything you need to decorate your house with Chinese tchotkes and even old Shanghai Art Deco furniture. Be sure to haggle hard!
Mr Mu's Junkyard
Ling Zhao Xin Cun Subway stop
Resembling something out of an Indiana Jones film, this junkyard towers metres above your head and is filled with everything vintage. You need to bring a torch and have a rummage through and it is a fantastic day out of exploring.