Is Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street worth visiting?

Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street is far more famous than what it offers today. It is the vehicle-free middle stretch of Nanjing East Road, running from People’s Square to the Bund, with department stores, chain shops, time-honoured names, snack counters and souvenir stalls on both sides. As a walking route it is useful; as Shanghai’s shopping destination it disappoints most people.

What it is today, and where the reputation comes from

The old reputation dates from the 1920s and 1930s, when the four big Chinese department stores — Xianshi, Yong’an, Xinxin and Daxin — built their blocks here and the road ranked among the Far East’s busiest commercial streets. Today the ground floors are almost entirely modern chain signage: everyday goods, inexpensive clothing, cosmetics, phones and accessories, brands found in other cities at no price advantage. History survives only in a few old department store facades, worth looking up at, but there is no old Shanghai atmosphere at street level, and anyone who came for the look of the older city will be disappointed.

What is worth buying, and what to avoid

Malls and brand shops are fixed-price with no bargaining, so do not come to hunt a bargain. What the street does well is cheap small gifts, mass-market clothing, shoes and bags, everyday items and snacks. What it does not suit: anything labelled “silk”, “pearl” or “jade”, calligraphy and painting, and any high-priced item where you are pressed to pay on the spot; on a street this busy with visitors, those categories are where problems cluster. For anything more substantial, the western stretch of the same road around Jing’an Temple is better: a higher brand tier and much quieter.

The side streets, the back streets, and the people on the main strip

Turn off the main strip north or south for a minute or two and the crowds disperse, leaving office buildings, older buildings, lane housing and small places where local people eat: quiet, ordinary, closer to the city itself. Many visitors walk the main strip end to end and judge the area there, missing the only part of it that is not commercial. Weekday late morning to early afternoon is comparatively quiet; weekends, evenings and public holidays are crowded end to end and take about twice as long. Touts will offer “a show” or “tea”; decline, and do not follow anyone who approaches you.

The verdict: worth passing through, not worth a special trip

From People’s Square to the Bund the street takes about twenty minutes end to end, free, straight and hard to get lost on, with the East Nanjing Road metro station in the middle: its most solid use. Leaving at the eastern end puts you on the Bund, and the usual pairing is to walk the promenade north to south first, then return through the street. If you are already nearby, crossing it, looking up at the old facades and buying something small takes half an hour to an hour. If your time is short, if crowds bother you, or if you want distinctive shopping or the look of old Shanghai, skip it: shop around Jing’an Temple on Nanjing Road West, go west to the Wukang Road and Hengshan Road area for old streets and city fabric, and give the time to the Bund.