Xujiahui
The Highest Density Shopping in the World
Hours: 9:30 AM - 10:00 PM Daily
Admission: Free to shop. Bargain for computer equipment but clothing and other items are sold as advertised.
Nearest Public Transit: Xujiahui Station, Line 1
Xujiahui literally means "property of Xu family at the junction of two rivers" in Mandarin [1]. The "Xu family" actually refers to the family of Xu Guangqi (1562-1633), China's most notable Catholic convert. Most of what is now present day Xujiahui was once the ancestral home of Xu Guangqi and his family. Baptized by famed Italian Jesuit, Matteo Ricci, Xu Guangqi and his descendants donated large plots of land to the Catholic Church, including the site of the St. Ignatius Cathedral.
Pronounced in the old Shanghainese Wu dialect, it is called "zi-ga-wei". During the 19th century it was known by western residents as "Ziccawei".
With land donated by Xu Guangqi's family and those acquired by other means, the Society of Jesus established a grand cathedral as well as an entire one square mile complex that covers most of present-day Xujiahui. In addition to the cathedral, the mainly French Jesuits also built orphanages, monasteries, schools, libraries and an observatory.
One of the first structures to be built by the Jesuits was the St. Ignatius Cathedral in 1847, later reconstructed in 1906. The Cathedral is located on what is now known as North Caoxi Road and is still referred to in English as the St. Ignatius Cathedral. The cathedral was featured in the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg's 1987 film Empire of the Sun.
Other structures that can still be seen today include Xuhui College on 68 Hongqiao Road, now renamed Xuhui Middle School. Established by Jesuits in 1850, Xuhui College was the first educational institution in China to offer a fully western curriculum.
Catholic Xujiahui came to an abrupt end with the Communist victory over the KMT. By the time the People's Liberation Army entered Shanghai, the Jesuits had already abandoned Xujiahui and relocated to either Macau or Manila. From 1949 onwards, most of the large houses and estates in Xujiahui were compulsorily acquired or seized by the government and converted into factories. Up until the late 1990s, the area was predominantly an industrial zone.
Xujiahui Today
During the late 1990s, many of the state-owned factories were sold off and torn down. Xujiahui is now mainly a commercial district of downtown Shanghai. On the location of a former brick factory now stands Xujiahui park, which was completed in 2002. The park also contains a man-made pond and meandering brook, basketball courts, and a children's playground. The Shanghai Conservatory of Music - located next to the park - often stages free performances during the Spring and Autumn inside the park.
New high-rise apartments surround St. Ignatius Cathedral. The main Xujiahui shopping district is centered around the intersection of the streets Hongqiao Rd, Huashan Rd, Zhaojiabang Rd and North Caoxi Rd. Each of these streets terminates at the intersection, which is home to three supermarkets, six major shopping malls and nine large-scale office towers. Everything from cosmetics to cars to cucumbers is available within five minutes, but the type of product that Xujiahui is most famous for is electronics. It is one of the biggest places for people to get electronic equipment in the city. Once home to pirated equipment and knock-offs it has become the center of brand name electronic equipment as well. In 2005 the first Best Buy in China opened its doors here signifying the legitimization of the electronic goods sold here.
The Grand Gateway Mall, one of 7 major shopping malls is the 'grandest' with 7 floors of shopping that equals what you could find in the Mall of America or any other suburban mall in the USA. With all the offices and shopping available the intersection of Xujiahui is the densest in the world beating out Time Square in New York and a variety of other places as the shopping capital of the world.
A five minute walk to the north of this intersection is the famous Shanghai Jiaotong University. The campus has many historic buildings throughout and some green spaces if the concrete of the shopping malls becomes overwhelming and the influx of students from the campus gives the area a young and hip atmosphere as well. Xujiahui was part of the former "French Concession" of Shanghai. but it now lacks any of the trees and small lanes that gives that part of town its charm, yet the district is the place to come to in order to meet any shopping needs.
