Shanghai glows on influencer during Nanjing Road stroll

For influencer Libby, known online as "itsjavachip," Shanghai's Nanjing Road E. is more than a shopping destination – it is a window into modern China.

Originally from London but living in New York, Libby gained popularity through game streaming, particularly her early playing of Chinese-developed action RPG "Black Myth: Wukong."

It marked a turning point. Overnight, her content was translated, reposted, and celebrated on Chinese media. That unforeseen connection sparked a journey that would eventually bring her face to face with Shanghai's unique blend of tradition and futurism.

On her latest trip to China, she partnered with City News Service to delve deeper into the city. Central to her exploration was Nanjing Road E. – one of the world's busiest commercial streets and a living museum of Shanghai's evolving identities.

"It's one of the most unique cities I've visited," she remarked. "Shanghai feels like the future, yet it gently embraces the past."

The blind box surprise at Pop Mart

Libby's day began at the Pop Mart's global flagship store, located at the entrance of Hongyi Plaza.

As she stepped into a world filled with blind boxes and collectible figurines, giant figures of Skullpanda and Labubu loomed above her. For a content creator deeply immersed in digital culture, this space felt like a real-life extension of her aesthetic: playful, tech-savvy, and visually striking.

"There's such a wide variety of stores here – many distinctly Chinese stores like Pop Mart," she remarked.

A time capsule at Wangkai Photo Studio

At the historic Wang Kai Photography Studio, she wore a custom-fitted qipao and posed for portraits under vintage lighting.

This moment – dressed in a symbol of old Shanghai glamour, captured in film and memory – represented what Libby later described as "the most fun experiences... where I got to see, like, east meets west or, like, something traditional brought to the future."

Finding Shanghainese flavor at Shen Da Cheng

She headed for lunch at the Shen Da Cheng, an authentic Shanghainese restaurant where the aroma of sweet rice and savory crab soup dumplings lingered in the air.

She waited in line like a local, chatted with other diners, and marveled at how a sticky rice cake could carry generations of cultural memory.

Food, for Libby, was narrative.

"The food is incredible," she said. "I haven't had a bad meal here. I don't think I could have a bad meal here if I tried, frankly."

What struck out was not just the dumplings, but a chance late-night supper outside her hotel the night before. She had come into a restaurant with no English and no pictorial menu, hungry and overwhelmed, until a local man who spoke both Mandarin and English stepped in to help.

"He actually invited me to his table. He's with his girlfriend... and he was teaching me and like sharing food with me," she recalled, smiling. "It was just this beautiful moment around food, but I feel like it was such a perfect capsule of all that Shanghai is."

Anime, games & dreams at Bailian ZX

Libby went down a "stylish rabbit hole" in the afternoon at the Bailian ZX Creative Center, which sells anything ACG (anime, comic, game).

For a gamer and streamer like her, it was paradise. She visited Tamashii Nations, One piece Mugiwara Store, animate, SEGA STORE SHANGHAI and Aniplex China, posing with lifesize anime statues and recording brief snippets of hand-painted figurines for her international admirers.

Bailian ZX showed her the Chinese fan economy in full bloom, from Tamashii Nations' valuable figurines to anime and game hero pop-up boutiques. The installations, character cocktails, and unending merchandise walls felt familiar and alien.

"Shanghai in my opinion does a really good job of having both (old and new) coexist in a way that doesn't feel like one is trying to shut the other out."

Healing through heritage at Cai Tong De Tang

As the sun softened over the pedestrian street, Libby reached the stately Cai Tong De Tang, Shanghai's oldest traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy and clinic. She experienced the clash between traditional practice and modern infrastructure here.

"There were a couple of things I got to do to experience like traditional Chinese medicine and also some older crafts. That feels really nice like tie back to things," she said. "But it wasn't something that felt like a ritual to honor the past... it still felt very modern."

She saw lab-coated herbalists store medications carefully and efficiently between carved wooden drawers and automated queue systems. It defined what she liked about Shanghai: "It's futuristic not just because things are so far ahead. Mentally, it's futuristic."

A moment on the footbridge

As sunlight filtered through the glass façades, Libby paused near the center of Nanjing Road E. She wasn't filming, shopping, or rushing. She watched people pass, listening to conversations, and breathing in a moment of quiet on Shanghai's busiest thoroughfare.

"It feels like a city that has merged together everything that I've ever wanted in a city," she said. A peaceful moment among strangers in a place that felt familiar moved her then, not a skyline or monument.

She looked around and saw more than shops and scenery. She saw a version of urban life that felt shared, thoughtful, human.

That day became a snapshot in her memory, not preserved on camera but indelibly imprinted in emotion. And when she turned to walk again, she knew she wasn't leaving Shanghai or Nanjing Road behind.

It was the beginning.

"I'm already planning my return," she remarked.