Beijing Shopping
Shopping in Beijing is becoming more and more convenient. New shopping centers, plazas and malls have been sprouting up all over the capital. 30 years ago there were only a few department stores and small bazaars, but now there are many superstores, mega-malls and markets and boutiques where you can buy just about anything you need.There are many places to go for shopping in Beijing, depending on what you expect and the prices you are prepared to pay; there are a rich variety of things waiting for you to explore and buy.
Beijing Major Shopping & Attraction Map
 |
 |
Top Beijing Shopping Areas
As the most famous commercial area of Beijing, Wangfujing is located at the northern side of Changan Avenue at the center of the city. With a long history of more than 700 years, it came into being in the Yuan Dynasty. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there was the earliest business activity. Wangfujing became a commercial center when the Dong An Market was founded here in 1903.Now the street is less than one kilometer long, but it is crowded with specialty and long-history shops, which are full of modern atmosphere and high taste. It is considered as the sister street of Champs Elysees in France. Besides of its modern feature, the street also preserves the Chinese traditional style, such as the Oriental Plaza, Gongmei Building, Wangfujing Department Store, Muslim Building, Sun Dong An Plaza and so on.
 |
Qianmen is just in the south of the Tiananmen Square. The Qianmen Street was a commercial center of Beijing more than 500 years ago. If you are interested in the Chinese traditional products, then it will be a good place to go. Qianmen area has been remedied as per the architecture style of the Ming and Qing Dynasty.
Now the old and famous shops just like the Quanjude, Pianyi Workshop, Douyichu, all of which are the representative of the Chinese traditional culture, are congested there. Indubitably, the atmosphere of the Chinese traditional culture will be felt.
 |
This is a seven story building which has everything included. Just as its name, the Silk Street is full of the beautiful silk products (pyjamas, robes, shirts, scarves and so on )as well as the textiles (cashmere scarves, clothes of all types, tablecloths, etc.), and handcrafts.
Besides of these, the Silk Street has much more than just silk. The new Silk Street have introduced traditional Chinese handicrafts, antiques, calligraphy, carpets, table cloths, bed coverings, paintings, hand-knit dresses, toys, electronic gadgets, trinkets, and fine jewelry. Everything here can be had cheaper than at any of the stores in the city, but remember to make the bargain for it.
 |
For many foreign tourists to Beijing, Panjiayuan Market is a must see activity. As the largest antiques market of its kind both in China and Asia, the Panjianyuan Market is made up of more than 3,000 individual stalls covering 48,500 square meters. There is really a market for everybody to come, even Hilary Clinton has shopped here.
 |
All kind of souvenirs are available for sale. There are reproductions from the late Qing Dynasty as well as real stuff from the Cultural Revolution era. What is known to the Chinese as the "four treasure of the study"(writing brush, ink stick, paper and ink slab), old books and paintings, ancient Chinese and foreign coins, Buddhist relics, customs of ethnic minorities, apparel are also can be found here. You'd better go there on weekends. The Antique zone is open everyday, but the Arts and Crafts Warehouse Zone is on Saturday and Sunday only.
Add: West of Panjiayuan Bridge in the Chaoyang district.
Opening hours
8:30 - 18:30 from Monday to Friday
4:30 - 18:30 Saturday and Sunday
How to get there:
Take subway line 10 get off at the final station of Jinsong (劲松), and continue to have a 15-minute walk to next bridge (Panjiayuan Bridge) in the south and West of Panjiayuan Bridge is Panjiayuan Market.
 |
Add: No.21, 3rd East Ring South Road, Chaoyang District (South of Panjiayuan Market).
Tel: 010-6774 7711
Hongqiao Pear Market is a Beijing shopping favorite, not because it is relax but because it has anything you want to find, such as antiques, jewelry, clothes, food, souvenirs, gifts, toys, shoes etc. Although the quality of the goods is not always the best, but for the prices it is about what you can afford. Rather chaotic but you will have fun poking around. It is located in the south central area of Beijing, just the east entrance to the Temple of Heaven.
 |
Add: Tiantan East Road, Donhcheng District (Almost opposite the East Gate to the Temple of Heaven)
How to get there:
Take subway line 5 and get off at the station of East Temple of Heaven (天坛东）
Liulichang Antique Street
Liulichang ( Liu Li Chang - colored Glazed Plant ) is an antique culture street in Beijing. It is located south of Hepingmen Subway Station, just next to Hepingmen Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant. Liulichang ( Colored Glazed Plant ) gets its name in Ming Dynasty when the government established Colored Glazed Plant to produce fired colored glaze tiles to meet the need of royalty. |
Liulichang is 750m long with a long history from Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The area is really a good place to these who love the Chinese culture.
How to get there:
Take subway line 2, get off at the station of Hepingmen (和平门), and exit from EXIT C2.
Xidan Shopping Area
Situated in Xidan North St., west of Tiananmen square, Xiandan, a up-market commercial area, is a famous centre for commerce, entertainment and dinning, just like the US department store. The market is oriented to different costumer groups, providing mid-and high-quality commodities and highlighting the distinctive feature of professionalism and completeness to meet the needs of people.
 |
There are a lot of old and new shops here such as: Xidan Shopping Center, Xidan Bazaar, Chung-Yo Department Store, Huanan Mansion, Paris Photo Studio, Weiwei Bride Wedding Dress Photo Studio and Capital Bookstore.
How to get there:
Take subway line 1, get off at the station of Xidan (西单), and exit from Exit K
Top Things to Buy in Beijing
Antiques
A good place to find a wide selection of antiques is at Liulichang, Panjiayuan and Beijing Curio City. This area has everything from scrolls, to jade articles to decades old cigarette ad posters. There are definitely treasures to be found here, but it is hard to tell genuine antiques from dirty fakes.Real antiques are supposed to bear a red official seal that proves their authenticity, but sometimes real ones don't have it and fake ones do. The best attitude to have is: if you like it and you can bargain down to a price you can accept, just go for it. Small jade articles and silver trinkets make great presents for people at home and they are easy to take on the plane.
Porcelain
Porcelain, the original China, is still a major industry, producing dinner services, figurines and reproductions of antique vases, teapots and the like. The finest porcelain in the world can be easily purchased in China. Cloisonne
Cloisonne is a unique art form that originated in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368). Cloisonne(enamel formed in patterns of copper wire) is an art form developed in the 15th century, and now used to decorate vases, bowls, lamps, jewelry and ornaments.Now this traditional handicraft unique to Beijing features a colorful range of varieties shaped in various models including furnace, tripod, and quadripod, ash-tray, stationary and lantern. Among them, the blue glazed ones with golden colour are most colorful.
Lacquerware
Lacquerware consists of up to 500 coats of lacquer applied to a copper base and carved into designs. The colors are red, green, yellow and black, while favorite patterns show flowers, birds, landscapes and figures. Lacquer is used for vases, plates, bowls and figures. Lacquer is used for vases, plates, bowls and screens.Some lacquerware is inlaid with gold, mother-of -pearl or jade, to decorate folding screens and furniture which are genuine works of art.
Silk
Silk, which has brought fame to China, can be readily found in a dazzling array of colors, patterns and textures. While large State-owned stores like the Beijing Yuanlong Silk Corporation, Ltd. Can be trusted for quality and offer ready-made clothes as well as a complete array of fabric, private markets like Silk Market sell all kinds of silk clothing from shirts, underwear and trousers, to pajamas and bedspreads at negotiable prices.Most vendors at the markets are self-employed and speak some English. All the products are marked in Western sizes. Chinese long gowns are considered the most elegant garment most suitable for women's figures. Silk gowns can be a truly long-lasting and useful item to purchase in China for yourself or as gifts for those special people back home.
Jade
Jade is regarded by the Chinese as a stone descended from heaven. They value its hard, cool texture and translucent colors. It is extremely difficult to carve but China's craftsmen create incredibly intricate ornaments and jewelry from jade. Painting and Calligraphy
Painting and calligraphy works are found in hundreds of stores. They vary in age, quality and price with the finest being true works of art. The brushes, ink slabs, ink and paper that were the scholars traditional tools can be found in most antique shops. One of the best sources is the China Book Store, off the courtyard-parking in East Liulichang.Clay figurines and animals can be traced back to 1840s, and are still one of the most unique crafts in North China.
Dough modeling is another traditional folk art handed down from ancient times. Kneaded in half-cooked glutinous rice flour, dough figures, flowers and birds are popular small toys and exhibits in Beijing.
Paper-cutting is one of the most popular handicrafts in Beijing. There is a wider variety of paper cutting patterns available than you can imagine.
Kites can be used as ornaments and toys. One of China's favorite past times is flying kites, especially in Beijing where there is usually plenty of wind around to send them soaring into the sky. Available in many art and craft stores, kites are among the best Chinese presents to friends back home.
Snuff bottles, with paintings inside, represent a popular art from the Qing Dynasty and make excellent small gifts. You and your friends will marvel for years on how the artist paints such intricate drawings on the inside of these very small bottles.
Bone products, made from oxen and camel bones, include knives, forks, spoons, bracelets and necklaces.
Embroidery & drawn work appear on table cloths, napkins, sheets and handkerchiefs, all of which are excellent buys, the Beijing Yuanlong Silk Corporation, Ltd. has a wide selection.
Books
Every year 20,000 book titles and 1,300 periodicals are published in Beijing, home of the Commercial Press and other well-known publishing houses. They make up a small part of the stock of the city's major book shops, where you can find beautiful art books, translations of Chinese classics and textbooks on all known subjects. Prices are reasonable, particularly in the Foreign Languages Bookstores.
The Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore and Beijing Xinhua Bookstore (with 137 branches around town) are major book sellers. The China Book Store in Liulichang binds and repairs all kinds of books and periodicals as well as selling them.
Add On
Top 10 Beijing Markets
Top 10 Beijing Shopping Malls
Top 10 Beijing Souvenirs
Questions & Answers:
Here is only for Questions and Answers. ( For anyone who wants to have an enquiry or customized tour, please email us to 
. )
