Panjiayuan Market

Lonely Planet review

Hands down the best place to shop for yishu (arts), gongyi (crafts) and guwan (antiques) in Beijing is Panjiayuan (aka the Dirt or Sunday Market). The market takes place on weekends only and has everything from calligraphy, Cultural Revolution memorabilia and cigarette-ad posters, to Buddha heads, ceramics and Tibetan carpets.

The market hosts up to 50,000 visitors a day scoping for treasures. Serious collectors are the early birds, swooping here at dawn to snare that precious relic someone will unwittingly let go for peanuts. If you want to join them, early Sunday morning is the best time. You might not find that rare Qianlong doucai stem cup or late Yuan dynasty qinghua vase that will ease you into early retirement, but what's on view is no less than a compendium of Chinese curios and an A-Z of Middle Kingdom knick-knacks. Bear in mind that this market is chaos - especially if you find crowds or hard bargaining intimidating. Also, ignore the 'don't pay more than half' rule here - some vendors might start at 10 times the real price. Make a few rounds to compare prices and weigh it all up before forking out for anything.