Yesterday, I went to see the former French Concession. It is noted for the houses and estates built during the 1920’s and 30’s by the Europeans. It is the nicest area of Shanghai I have seen, and probably very expensive. A lot of the estates have been converted to offices or institutes.
After wandering the residential streets for a while, I roamed into the shopping area, and chanced upon the most upscale and expensive shopping I’ve seen in China. I thought that Nanjing Road and the Super Brand Mall were upscale, but I found three malls (all in a row) that are competitive with Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills for price and “designer names”.
One mall had a “Diesel Jeans” boutique. This is the brand of jeans and belt I bought at the Silk Market in Beijing. I checked the price of some jeans in the boutique: Y2500! (>$250) This is almost 8x what I paid!
Fatigued from walking around the French Concession and shopping malls, I looked for a Starbucks to get a latte and chill out for a while. I was surprised to happen upon the same Starbucks I found four years ago, on my first morning in China. I have come full circle!
Today is my last day in China. I fly to Australia tonight.
Michael Chmilar's Travels 