Hello Traveling Eye Listeners,
Our April 3rd show was on shopping around the globe. Here is a list of the places we discussed on the show. Please note that these consist of places we have been ourselves and places recommended by other travel experts:
Dubai, UAE during the Dubai Shopping Festival.
This event is held annually from mid January – mid February
We like this destination and time for shopping because Dubai has more than 40 shopping malls, including the Mall of Emirates. Dubai is also known as “the city of Gold” because of its world famous gold souks. You can find everything from traditional Arabic souks selling fabrics, spices, jewelry, pottery, etc to high end retail outlets. The airport alone is a great place to shop.
It’s a Wrap, Production Wardrobe Sales
I found out about this shop from my sister in law who lives in Long Beach. It’s a wrap sells clothing formerly worn my movie stars. When a movie company wraps up filming or a TV Show is cancelled or when a studio is simply weeding out their wardrobe, they will give “It’s a Wrap” a call and the stores reps will go out to the studio and pick up the clothing. They then resell it at greatly reduced prices. There are two locations: 3315 W Magnolia Blvd in Burbank, CA & 1164 S Robertson Blvd in West Los Angeles.
China, Beijing & Shanghai:
In Beijing a good website to reference is http://www.shoppinginbeijing.com/ I’ve visited many of the places listed and find them excellent places to shop and bargain. I especially like the silk and pearl markets.
In Shanghai I like Nanjing Road. East Nanjing road is also known as the Gold Mile. Nanjing Lu was one of Shanghai’s first commercial streets. There are neon lights and it’s very modern with brand name stores and generics. West Nanjing road is where the knock offs are. You will find people on the street on East Nanjing road but I don’t recommend these because they want you to go to their shop, which is normally down an alley and behind another shop. So for safety reasons I don’t recommend it. On West Nanjing road there is an office building 541 West Nanjing Road. The entire building is made up of kiosks and the merchants sell anything from Chinese clothing and souvenirs to high end knock offs. Do you homework to make sure you know the quality.
There is another place in China that probably has the best shopping. It’s called Shenzhen. Shenzhen is located in the southern portion of the Guangdong Province, on the eastern shore of the Pearl River Delta. Neighboring the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong. If you are visiting Hong Kong it is very easy to get to Shenzhen from there. PLEASE NOTE: Hong Kong is not located on Mainland China and you do NOT need a visa to visit Hong Kong. Shenzhen IS ON MAINLAND CHINA and you DO need a visa. If you plan to visit Hong Kong and Beijing or Shanghai and visit Shenzhen from Hong Kong YOU MUST GET A MULTIPLE ENTRY VISA FOR MAINLAND CHINA.
Thailand
Bangkok was mentioned for custom clothing. I like the leisure wear best. We did not mention the two night markets that are great for bargains
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Bonnie loves the Hippie Fair, A popular Sunday market for handicrafts, jewelery, clothes, paintings etc. It’s locate on Ipanema.
Travel & Leisure Magazine listed the following Flea Markets as the best:
- The Garage on West 25th Street in New York City – Open on Saturdays & Sundays only
- Brimfield, MA spread over 23 different locations and fields – Open May 12 – 17, July 14 – 19, Sep 8 – 13 dawn til dusk
- Porte de Clignancourt in Paris – Open Saturdays and Sundays
- Porte de Vanves, Rive Gauche – Open Saturdays & Sundays before 1pm
- Plaza Dorego, San Telmo in Buenos Aires – Open Sundays only
- Portobello Road in London – Open Saturdays only
- Togo Shrine, Meiji Dori near Harajuku in Tokyo – Open First and Fourth Sunday each month
- Casabarata, on the road to Rabat in Tangier, Morocco – Open every day
- The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA – Open Second Sunday of every month
- Placa de la Seu in Barcelona, Spain – Open Thursdays