I went to Croissants de France (可颂坊, the 江宁店 is my shop) this evening, and they only had a little bun left of their black bread. Instead of just putting on my disappointed face and leaving, I actually stuck around and had a talk with the store employees. I found out two things.

1. They don't make more European style bread because Chinese don't like bread with a hard crust. This explains perfectly the bread I see in Shanghai bakeries: soft and very moist, like the gooey blueberry loaves that I buy at the place next to my apartment, or the sweet bean-paste buns I buy most mornings after class at 海丽达.
2. Some lady arrives at the store every day at 6:50 in the morning and buys two big loaves of their European style bread when they open at seven. I, in contrast, get there every day at about 6:30 PM, as soon as I hop off the bus that brings me home from work. It's not fair.

Nevertheless, it's comforting that I can buy good bread somewhere in Shanghai. In particular, I've noted these places:

• Croissants de France，可颂坊: has a limited selection
• Carrefour, 家乐福: has about a dozen kinds, great baguettes.
• BreadTalk, 面包新语: several Shanghai shops, has baguettes.