Shanghai Bazaar

RIP Shanghai bazaar. Loved your book section and I always looked at the expensive Chinese furniture even if I didn’t buy

Was a great little place. As of a few weeks ago it is Closed, as in: Out of business.

Shanghai Bazaar has a variety of Chinese paper cut decorations — perfect for festive occasions!

A good place to look around! u could get some gifts for your friends!

LOL. So worth visiting.

Careful when you buy something there. My wife and I had a little argument with the owner the lady markdown a bracelet $ 3 once we were trying to pay for the item the lady was charging $ 5.99 for it. We argue explain to the lady does she know sum law she refused to talk back and gos she dont speak no english

When it comes down to it, it’s fun to walk around this place for a while if you have time to kill. I do enjoy it on occasion.
But in the end, just about everything is overpriced, they make you hike upstairs to pay for something that you picked up downstairs, and the workers there just don’t seem to care that you’re in the store (except for the little signs all around reminding you that you’re being watched by video and that shoplifting is a crime).
I would never ever make this a destination shopping trip. But I’d browse here for 15 – 20 minutes just because. And on occasion I’ve picked up something here for fun. It could be worse.

This place is wonderful! I randomly wandered in after coming out of Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House and was greeted by the two lovely statues outside of the doorway. I didn’t really inspect the bottom floor closely, but it seemed to have an assortment of jewelry and trinkets. Some of it was closed down because it was quite late at night. After making a quick round on the bottom floor, I decided to head to the top floor after seeing the sign proclaiming that it was a bookstore and more.
The first thing I saw when I walked up the stairs was the collection of Russian movies. This is beyond tantalizing and was certainly not what I was expecting. I plan on coming back here and picking a bunch at random to watch. They also had some cute posters hanging on the railing and various other movies to flip through. One side of the upstairs was dedicated to music. There were a bunch of Chinese opera DVDs which I was quite excited about. The CD section consisted of various Chinese folk and pop music, as well as a good selection of classical pieces played by Chinese performers.
Another section consisted of books and other trinkets, such as various little xylophones, chess and other game sets, and tea sets. The books spanned an impressive number of topics and there were many with stunning packaging. If I could read Chinese, I would be all over many of these books, including the literary critique and the Chinese classics section. There are various books that are in English and also dictionaries and other aids to help one learn Chinese, English, or other languages. Some of these books would be worth it just for the packaging.
Finally, on the far end in the back, you can view the very expensive Chinese traditional musical instruments like the pipa, ruan, guzheng, various flutes, etc. Many of these are 1,000+, but there is a little selection of flutes for under $ 15.
In the end, my fiancée and I made out with two albums of Chinese communist/​revolutionary songs, both which are lovingly packaged and, much to my delight, are filled with stellar music. Both of these albums are out of print and cannot be found on the internet. My fiancée also picked up a little medallion with Chairman Mao on it, with a dragon design imprinted on silver on the back as a gift for a family member. We also received a free gift with our purchase: a Chinese cane and wooden wallscroll calendar which features an actual western calendar, as well as colorful illustrations of the Chinese Zodiac.
Shangai Bazaar has enough interesting and unique things packed into its store to keep you looking for hours. Despite what some reviewers say about it being «touristy», this shop contains a fair amount of quality content if you’re willing to look for it. I will surely be back to further browse the many, many things that caught my eye during my visit. Hidden treasures abound!

Bizarre! (hardy har har). You’d probably walk past this place not even knowing what you’re missing. You step in and you’ll find the most random assortment of Asian and non Asian items around. Typical of an Asian store. I guess it’s your one stop shop for abacuses, jade jewelry, fans, random tagless beanie babies, cannon shaped lighters, oriental garments, books and, yes, swords. If you’re walking through and have nothing else to do, it is interesting to browse through here. Most things are tacky, but every so often you may find something that will tickle your fancy!

About 2 years ago, a friend of mine brought me here for the first time while we were exploring Chinatown, and I have to say, I was amazed at the variety of items they carry! The Bazaar has 2 floors, featuring clothing, home décor, books, instruments (including dinner gongs), and a wide selection of Chinese paraphernalia. More recently, I returned with a friend of mine who was specifically looking for fake meat to use as a prop for a play she was working on, and while we ended up not finding that there, we still had fun browsing! What charmed me the most out of pretty much everything was the clothing – it’s all so pretty, and someday I need to come back and buy some for myself!

Dispite the glitz and the bright lights theres really not a whole lot to say about this place. Its definately for tourists. Lets put it that way. Things in here are nice too look at, but cost to much.
After reading other review about this place, im quite intrigued by the massage guy!

This isn’t exactly about the Bazaare. Well, that is cool enough too, as a sort of tourist trap. Most of the stuff in there is overprices, you can similar curiosity items elsewhere for less money, but it is a cool place to window shop for a moment with people who haven’t been to Chinatown before.
HOWEVER, and I don’t want to give away one of the best kept secrets of bodywork in Philadelphia, but there is a man in the back that goes by «Jeff» (I’m highly doubting that is his name), that is hands down the best acupressurist and masseur I’ve encountered in Philly.
«Hands down.» Yeah, I really didn’t mean that pun, but I’ll let it just kind of hang in the air there, awkwardly.
A few things. First, I have been to a lot of people in Philly for bodywork, especially since getting awful sciatica several years ago that has never gone away. So I have a pretty varied sense of what is out there in this city — and when it comes to really getting into your back and dealing with your problems, he is the best.
One of the strangest things about the dynamic of going to him (for me, anyway) is that I have been going now off and on since 2005. A pretty long time. But he really doesn’t seem to speak much English beyond basic things like «30 minutes.» You would think this would be a hindrance since you can’t really give any verbal direction, but he is able to intuitively or otherwise just *know* where your problem areas are. I know he has some internal martial arts training, and I’m sure that is a factor in his ability.
Some people may also be offput by the approach of Chinese acupressure. This isn’t what I would call a «relaxing massage,» and it isn’t a ritzy environment like you’ll get going for a $ 80 massage in Old City. But he really knows what he’s doing.
Also, since I don’t speak whichever dialect of Chinese he speaks, I can’t make appointments so it’s a walk-​in kind of thing. But most of the time at most I have to wait for 30 minutes. Often he’s just napping, and waked up and we get started.
So yeah, if you have back or muscle problems like I do– visit him. Though not TOO much, I don’t want to suddenly have to wait in line every time I go. ;)

I wouldn’t come back here if there was literally any other competition. Unfortunately, Shanghai ‘Bizarre’ seems to have a mini monopoly going on in Chinatown.
If you must shop here…
All I can say is… be VERY careful when paying in cash. Count your return bills
at the register as you receive it. I’ve literally gotten into an argument with the store clerk and manager to get my cash refunded to me because they tried to change a $ 20 like it was a $ 5. (I won but not until after fighting for it.)
On more than one occasion, their service personnel have attempted to short change me. I’ve never had this happen to me in any other store.

Ok, this place is entirely too overwhelming for me. I recommend popping in when you know exactly what you want — say, a hand fan to top off a jazz age ensemble — or when you have endless time to kill and are in the mood for a browsing adventure.
Service was friendly and the price for the fan was reasonable. I love it when you go somewhere and get exactly what you want!
Ten dollar minimum to use credit cards.

The Bazaar is a crazy gift shop, host to a ton of random merchandise: clothing, jewelry, furniture, and plenty of reading material and music on the top floor, much of it in Chinese. Don’t worry, if you can’t read Chinese, there’s some English selections too. No matter what you’re (not) looking for, there’s bound to be something here to get your shop on with. Tea sets? Dragons?
Prices are reasonable, for the most part. Helpful staff.

This odds and end place is right in the heart of Chinatown. An interesting store with pretty much stuff that may or may not interest you. I think this comes under the love it or hate it category. Alot of pricey items which are imported from China. Then, there are some stuff that is cheap as well. I usually visit the music and DVD area on the second floor. I usually find some hidden treasurers there. Also, there are nice bathrooms but just ask for the key at the front desk. If you are holding it in and trying to find a clean bathroom, then you will find relief here. Just be sure to buy something afterwards or risk looking like the person who only came to use the facilities.

Well DD (dear daughter) and I visited Shanghai Bazaar again today — as we do very often. And while upstairs a GORGEOUS, young looking woman greeted us and gave the l’il one a red balloon and a tiny, shiny pink star.
We soon realized that we were speaking with Ms. Lily Song — owner of Shanghai Bazaar, Opera singer and a great resource of Chinese Culture in Philadelphia.
That seals it — we totally LOVE Shanghai Bazaar and will come here for all things Chinese-​Culture that we could ever need or want.

From across the street my initial reaction to Shanghai Bazaar was exactly like Jessica W’s from Boston. My husband and I crossed to get a closer look at what we wrongly assumed would be be a junk store full of tourist garbage.
But wowzers, this place is AMAZING. The first floor has an incredible array of merchandise in colors, shapes and textures that tantalize. Merch ranges from the kitschy to the beautiful. There’s tiny resin dragons, huge Asian vases, stone sculptures, fans, clothing, shoes, good luck charms, furniture, housewares, décor and lots of things I didn’t recognize. I was most impressed by the beautiful embroidered silk clothing. It was very difficult for me to not get sucked in by it all.
The second floor is primarily a book, video and toy store. It was interesting to see Chinese toys on display. They had a very cool Chinese dragon suspended from the ceiling that I lusted after. They also have a small selection of Chinese instruments that had me salivating. Once again, I was compelled by my husband to exercise restraint, but I think it’s a matter of time til I go back dump a bunch of money in this store. The only thing that disappointed me is that the literature and videos are strictly Chinese. I was hoping to find some Korean media, but there just wasn’t any. Still, there was some seriously cool stuff on the second floor that you won’t want to miss.

I have seen this place well illuminated during many late night Chinatown walks even if it was closed. So when I had some time to kill and saw it open I was beyond eager to jump in and check it out.
Shanghai Bazaar is definitely one interesting store. there’s a lot of authentic Chinese merchandise, mixed in with a lot of stuff that looks a little too touristy and overpriced. But it was pretty easy to get a feel for what was legit and what wasn’t. there’s plenty of awesome clothing (one day I too may dress like Bruce Lee!), books, instruments, artworks, and weaponry. You could even buy one of those Chinese Dragons, call up some of your friends and parade around your neighborhood if you wanted to (not that I’m openly suggesting it).
and Now that Cherie’s review tells me of music lessons and an internet café, I apparently have a lot more to look into.

Very fun place to browse. Good place to get interesting gifts.
There are some items you can get across the street or elsewhere for less, but the textiles are unique.
Upstairs there seem to be «lots» available for vendors or something. There are little sections that seem incongruous, like the internet ‘café.’ On some days you can head upstairs to see/​hear a senior woman giving music lessons. And there are lots of books in Chinese languages.
Well worth a visit, but shop around before you buy a big-​ticket item.