Cool shop: Solar

By Emma Guo, October 10, 2014

With items suited to a sunny disposition, Solar is two back-to-back sister shops near the exit of Chegongmiao Station’s exit A. Both sport a treasure trove of curios with different emphases.

Readily identifiable thanks to the sign nailed above the door in wood strips, the decade-old Solar specializes in stylish handmade lambskin leather bags from Mongolia (RMB700-800), which are displayed above a green old-school motorbike. The store also features wooden ornaments such as miniature rocking horses, various items of jewelry – including Nepalese silver-plated earrings (RMB48) – and original watercolor paintings (RMB30-70) from the owner's arty friends. In keeping with the creative ambiance, the ceiling has been adorned with a collage of magazine pages.

Abutting the knick-knack paradise through a red-framed door sits the Solar coffee shop: a too-cool-for-school cafe rich in primary yellows and reds; furniture that’s assorted in color, material and shape; and an old white motorbike for a touch of racy flair. Coffees, juices and teas are all sold for just RMB20, or thereabouts.

Walk out, follow the curve left for 10 meters and say hi to a teddy bear sitting atop a typewriter, a silver teapot and a wooden sculpture – you’ve just met Solar’s 5-year-old sibling. Featuring a central workshop and rocking some earthy style with different hues of beige and brown, Solar the younger begs attention from those who are partial to craftsmen at work, clutter and own-design custom-made accessories.

Avoiding usual jewelry cliches, most necklaces (RMB1,000-4,000), bracelets (RMB200-400) and earrings (RMB300-400) comprise amber, wood, metal and even fruit pips. If you fancy yourself as a bit of an artisan, bring your own materials and design your decorative desire onsite. Normally, Solar takes from a couple of hours to a week to finish a piece.

Oddities abound in Solar, such as leather-bound book-style boxes (RMB49) and bookcases (RMB39), plus, from owner Icy Liang’s trip to Thailand, tin model tuk-tuks (RMB98) – quirky objects to brighten up one’s apartment.

// Click here for listing.

more news

Cool shop: The Colour Lab

Artjamming first made its appearance in Hong Kong sometime at the beginning of the 00s. The free-form community painting session has taken a while to make its way across the border to Shenzhen, but now The Colour Lab in OCT-Loft is offering the city’s first experience.

Cool shop: Milla's Shop

Handmade bracelets, funky tattoos and dance lessons at this month's cool shop.

Cool shop: Rong Art Gallery

Thomas Tan and his wife, Wu Rong, started Rong Art Gallery as a venue to sell classical Chinese paintings – not rubber chickens. Yet now, both can be found in their small gallery shop in Nanhai Ecool.

Cool shop: Art & Soul Paint Your Own Pottery Studio

This month’s cool shop doesn’t have some too-cool-to-comprehend name. Art & Soul Paint Your Own Pottery Studio, as its moniker suggests, lets people decorate their own ceramics.

Cool shop: Fannou Antique

Focusing on European antiques, from furniture to accessories, jewelry and silverware, Fannou Antique is heaven for vintage lovers. Compared to other shops in the OCT-Loft area, its interests harken back instead to an older age.

Cool shop: Lotus Ink Boutique

Devoted to the art and culture of tattoos and packing a surprising amount into a small space, Lotus Ink Boutique is part cafe-bar, part gallery and part store.

Cool shop: Amor Cafe

If definitive coolness in shop-form is all about being a quirky, relatively undiscovered and uncontrived vision of a passionately arty owner, then Amor Café scores high on all counts.

Cool Shop: Prestigious Clock Shop

With a design that has remained unchanged since the very first pendulum-based unit was birthed by Dutchman Christiaan Huygens in 1656, grandfather clocks are a stately method of monitoring the hours. When chosen carefully, these large items of furniture evolve from a mere timepiece into an eye-catching and classic interior decor feature. Today’s market has many different styles to choose from, even if there aren’t outlets aplenty.