Tuesday                                                                     Jing鈥檃n is a potted history of Shanghai. Century-old villas, well-pre-
24 April                                                                    served traditional shikumen neighborhoods with high walls and stone gates,
                                                                            and renovated factories all have a story to tell.
  2018
                                                                            Glitzy retail malls, charming boutiques and annual music and arts events give
 C                                                                          the district a distinctive ambience and ever-growing opportunities.

                                                                            In this series, we explore some of the landmarks that have come to charac-
                                                                            terize the district鈥檚 culture and history.

JING鈥橝N                     Nanjing Road W., known as the 5th Avenue of Shanghai, holds a cluster of high-rises and shikumen lane houses. 鈥斅?Wang Rongjiang

                            A shopping street to rival the best
                               in the world gets even better

                            Li Qian                                         international brands.                             In addition to retail outlets, the road is
                                                                               Last year, the long-established Plaza 66    home to many corporate headquarters,
                            Jing鈥檃n sits in the heart of Shanghai and                                                      including multinationals. They include
                                  Nanjing Road W. is its main artery. The   chalked up sales of nearly 5 billion yuan      L鈥橭real China, Pfizer China and Philips
                                  famous shopping street is often called    (US$796 million), making it the richest        China.
                                  the 鈥淔ifth Avenue of Shanghai.鈥?          retailer on the road. Up-market Jiuguang
                               The road has a long and cosmopolitan         department store ranked second with re-           鈥淚f a foreign company wants to do busi-
                            history, dating back to the 1920s when it       ceipts of nearly 3 billion yuan. In third      ness in Shanghai, it pays for them to look
                            was home to Western-style mansions, fancy       place was the Jing鈥檃n Kerry Center, with       at this area,鈥?said Brett Rose, director of the
                            ballrooms, haute couture stores, movie the-     sales of 1.7 billion yuan.                     Shanghai office of Robert Walters China.
                            aters and the caf茅 culture.                                                                    鈥淎s an entry point into China, it is the best
                                                                               Commercial authorities are predicting       bet.鈥?                               Now, every sort of retailer is based there.  that a newcomer to the road, HKRI Taikoo
                            Last year, retailers on the road reported a 14  Hui, will be a competitive rival, ushering in     He added, 鈥淥ne of the things that I find
                            percent year-on-year increase in sales, mak-    unique shopping experiences, performing        so fantastic about Jing鈥檃n, particularly this
                            ing it one of the most sought-after strips in   arts and international cuisine.                part of Jing鈥檃n, is that you could easily be
                            the city. They sell more than 1,800 brands,                                                    anywhere in the world. You can get the same
                            almost two-thirds of them renowned                 Last December, Starbucks鈥?first roastery    sense as if you were in Sydney, London, Sin-
                                                                            in China and its second in the world opened    gapore, Hong Kong or New York.鈥?                                                                            its doors in the mall.

Scan on WeChat to have                                                      Nanjing Road W.                                Largest flagship stores in China:
real-time update of what鈥檚                                                  Known as: 5th Ave of Shanghai                  鈥? Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Sephora
happening in the district.                                                  How to get there: Metro lines 2, 7,
(Chinese only)                                                              12, 13                                            and Gap
                                                                            Regional company headquarters: 22              鈥? Bottega Veneta鈥檚 largest Chinese
                            High-end retailers in the Jing鈥檃n Temple area   Brands: 1,800-plus
                            鈥?Jiang Xiaowei                                 Year-on-year increase in retail sales:            mainland store
                                                                            14 percent                                     鈥? Dior鈥檚 largest store in East China

                                                                            Popular shopping destinations:                 Starbucks鈥?first roastery in China
                                                                            鈥? Starbucks鈥?first roastery in China
                                                                            鈥? The first and biggest Louis Vuitton

                                                                               Maison on the Chinese mainland
                                                                            鈥? Loewe鈥檚 largest Asia flagship store
                                                                            鈥? Burberry鈥檚 largest Asia-Pacific flag-

                                                                               ship store