Once it was called Dai Sun and it was the biggest, most lavish department store in Shanghai, and therefore in China, rising 10 stories above Nanking Road, Shanghai's busiest, most Westernized shopping street.

The quality of its goods was impressive, its counters piled high with cigarettes from all over the world, Cuban cigars, American made cotton shirts, Swiss watches and German fountain pens. Its all-Cantonese staff, by all accounts, would have done Gucci proud with its studied haughtiness.

The giant rooftop red calligraphic neon sign reading, "Shanghai First Store," can be seen from most parts of the city, and the imposing granite building dominates the avenue of 300 shops, many of them Western feeling.

Shanghai's most famous department store, opened in 1934, has been thoroughly updated with the incorporation of a 22-story East Tower, the first 11 floors of which are devoted to retailing. All the usual suspects are here: clothing, shoes, children's wear, gifts, books, watches, toys, jewelry, cosmetics, house wares, sporting equipment, and electronic goods. The store has renown and volume, but not always the best prices. Daily 10am to 10pm.

Shanghai's largest state-owned store attracts masses of Chinese shoppers, especially on weekends. It sells everything from porcelain dinnerware to badminton racquets and is popular with much of Shanghai's male population who want no-nonsense, one-stop shopping.

Address: 800 East NanjingRd, near Middle Xizang Rd, Huangpu District