Fodor's Expert Review Hongqiao Market

Hongqiao, or Pearl Market, is full of kitschy goods, knockoff handbags, and cheap watches, but it's best known for its namesake pearls. Freshwater, seawater, black, pink, white: the quantity is overwhelming, and quality varies by stall. Prices also range wildly, though the cheapest items are often fakes. Fanghua Pearls (4th floor, No. 4318) sells quality necklaces and earrings—with photos of Hillary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher shopping there to prove it—and has a second store devoted to fine jade and precious stones. Throughout the market, stallholders can be pushy; try to accept their haggling in the gamelike spirit it's intended. Or wear headphones and drown them out.