Shopping in Běijīng
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Panjiayuan Antique Market
Beijing’s most beloved flea market sells almost every Chinese knick-knack imaginable. It’s a great spot for souvenirs, but bargain hard and treat any claims of antiquity with scepticism. Not much goes on here during the week. Instead, get here early on the weekends for one of the most fun shopping experiences in Beijing.
reviewed
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Maliandao Tea Market
South of Beijing West Train Station is Maliandao, the largest tea market in northern China. The four-storey building is home to if not all the tea in China, then an awful lot of it. There are brews from all over the country here, including pu’er and oolong. Although it’s mostly for wholesalers, the market is a great place to wander for anyone interested in tea and the vendors are normally happy to let you sample some. Maliandao Lu itself has hundreds of tea shops, where prices for tea and tea sets are lower than in the tea shops in tourist areas. To find the tea market, look for the statue of Lu Yu, the 8th-century sage who wrote the first book on growing, preparing and…
reviewed
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The Village
Anchoring Sānlǐtún's expensive commercial facelift, this nifty multistorey mall drags in legions of snappy shoppers and diners to its shops, cafes and restaurants; the world's largest branch of Adidas is here.
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Sānlǐtún Yashou Clothing Market
After slogging through this hopping, five-floor bedlam of shoes, boots, handbags, suitcases, jackets, silk, carpets, batik, lace, jade, pearls, toys, army surplus and souvenirs, ease the pressure on your bunions with a foot massage (Y50 per hour) or pedicure (Y40) on the 4th floor and restore calories in the 5th-floor food court.
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Carrefour
The best supermarket in Běijīng is the French hypermarket chain Carrefour , which moved into China early on. There are currently seven branches in Běijīng and they stock just about everything you need, as well as providing ATMs and taking credit cards. They're open every day and are always crowded. You can find three branches in Cháoyáng , one each in Xuānwǔ and Fēngtái , and two in Hǎidiàn . Cháoyáng (Beisanhuan Donglu ; 8460 1043; 6b Beisanhuan Donglu; Guangqu Lu ; 5190 9500; 31 Guangqu Lu; Guangshun Beidajie 5912 4033; 16 Guangshun Beidajie) Xuānwǔ (6332 2155; 11 Malian Dao) Fēngtái (6790 9911; 15, Zone 2 Fangchengyuan Fangzhuang) Hǎidiàn (Zhongguancun…
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Hongqiao (Pearl) Market
Besides a cosmos of clutter (shoes, clothing, electronics and lots and lots of handbags), Hongqiao is home to more pearls than the South Sea. The range is huge – freshwater, seawater, white and black pearls – and prices vary incredibly depending on quality. The 3rd floor has the cheaper ones, mostly sourced from Zhèjiāng province, as well as standard jewellery. The better-quality, more pricy pearls can be found on the 4th and 5th floors, where there’s a roof terrace that offers a view of the Temple of Heaven. Prices are generally high, while the vendors, who often speak some English, are canny bargainers. If you have kids, don’t miss the Kids Toys Market in the…
reviewed
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Zhaojia Chaowai Market
This huge four-storey warehouse is packed to the gills with traditional Chinese furniture - from opium beds to barrel stools to ornately carved side tables and carpets. Prices are reasonable, but remember to factor in shipping costs (which vendors can arrange). Many stallholders say their wares are genuine Ming or Qing items, but take it all with a pinch of yán (salt). The 4th floor contains ceramics and other antiques.
The stalls get fancier the higher the floor, and prices rise accordingly. The market is located on the southern part of Dongsanhuan Nanlu at Panjiaqiao, a short distance north of Beijing Curio City.
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Beijing Arts & Crafts Central Store
It’s a bit of a tourist trap, for both Chinese and Westerners, but this centrally located store (with a sign outside saying ‘Artistic Mansion’) does have a huge selection of potential purchases for anyone hunting for gifts or souvenirs. It’s well known for its jade (with certificates of authenticity), jadeite, cloisonné vases, carpets and other Chinese arts and crafts. There’s also jewellery (gold, silver, jade and pearl) on the first two floors. You’ll find calligraphy, lacquerware, paintings, seals and woodcarvings on the 3rd floor. Head to the 4th floor for jade carvings.
reviewed
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Oriental Plaza
You could spend a day in this staggeringly large shopping mega-complex at the foot of Wangfujing Dajie. Prices may not be cheap, but window-shoppers will be overjoyed. There's a great range of shops and restaurants and an excellent basement food court. Men, beware of being dragged off to exorbitant cafes and teahouses by pretty English-speaking girls.
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Sanfo
With no less than three shops grouped together, Sanfo is the place to come for outdoor wear, climbing and camping gear, as well as surfboards, mountain bikes and anything you might need if you’re into adventure sports. It’s something of a nexus for Beijing’s hikers and climbers – Sanfo organises weekend trips – and is a good place to pick up information, as well as the supplies you’ll need if you’re thinking of walking the Great Wall for a few days.
reviewed
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77th Street
Descend the stairs into this unique underground mall and see where ordinary teen and 20-something Beijingers go for their clothes and accessories. It opens out into a huge, circular, three-storey collection of hundreds of stores. As well as funky T-shirts, belts and bags, there are shoe shops galore and a food court. It’s lots of fun, but a madhouse at weekends. To get there walk north on Xidan Beidajie from the subway and take the first right, then look for the 77th Street sign.
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Sogo
Sogo is one of Běijīng’s most pleasant mall experiences. The mix of hip Japanese (Sogo is a Japanese company) and European boutiques, the convenient layout and an excellent, cheap food court on the 6th floor makes Sogo more fun than you’d expect a shopping centre to be. Add espresso bars on each floor, the impressive basement supermarket (with pharmacy) and the 6th-floor games arcade, where you can deposit kids while shopping, and you’re in mall heaven.
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Cathay Bookshop
There are two branches of the Cathay Bookshop on Liulichang. This branch (Gǔjí Shūdiàn), on the south side of Liulichang Xijie opposite Róngbǎozhāi, is worth checking out for its wide variety of colour art books on Chinese painting, ceramics and furniture, and its books on religion (most books are in Chinese). Upstairs has more art books, stone rubbings and antiquarian books. The store takes MasterCard and Visa. There’s another, smaller branch close by on Liulichang.
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Xidan Bookshop
The titles at this absolutely vast bookshop (Běijīng's largest) are largely Chinese, but the basement is home to what might be the city's best selection of English-language titles. There are all the classics, Austen, Dickens, Hemingway, Twain et al, but there are also books on China that have slipped past the beady eye of the censor, as well as an expanding range of new fiction. You can pick up Lonely Planet guides and maps of Běijīng here too.
reviewed
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Lufthansa Center Youyi Shopping City
The gigantic Lufthansa Center was the first Western-style mall to appear in Běijīng. It's looking its age a bit now, but is still a reliable, if pricey, source of upmarket Western clothing and cosmetics and is especially good for sports gear. The Yansha Supermarket in the basement is one of Běijīng's best, while the Yansha (6465 1188) bookstore on the 4th floor is worth a browse. There are restaurants and ATMs here too.
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Silk Street
Seething with shoppers and polyglot (and increasingly tactile) vendors, Silk Street was for long synonymous with fake knock-offs, and some pirated labels survive. The market sprawls from floor to floor, shoving piles of rucksacks, shoes, silk, cashmere and tailor-made qípáo into the overloaded mitts of travellers and expats. Haggle fiendishly (credit cards accepted).
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Mega Mega Vintage
Classic vintage clothing shop hits the nail on the head with a mock-up of an old British red phone box as its fitting room and a great selection of blouses, leather jackets and retro togs galore.
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Neiliansheng Shoe Shop
They say this is the oldest existing cloth shoe shop in China (it opened in 1853) and it has a factory that still employs more than 100 workers. Mao Zedong and other luminaries had their footgear made here and you too can pick up ornately embroidered shoes, or the simply styled cloth slippers frequently modelled by Běijīng’s senior citizens. It does cute, patterned kid’s slippers and shoes (from Y42), too.
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Jingdezhen Ceramic City
Just off Wangfujing Dajie, displays of well-lit ceramics from the Jingdezhen kilns are spread over several floors here. Pieces are modern, but many works on view employ traditional decorative styles and glazes, such as dòucǎi (blue and white and coloured), fěncǎi ( famille rose or ‘soft colours’) and qīnghuā (blue and white).
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Jenny Lou's
The most popular deli for expats and well-heeled locals alike, thanks to the fresh meat and fish and the array of cheeses, along with an impressive selection of wine. It stocks all the usual staples as well. Not cheap, but it caters to a captive market. There are six branches. The most convenient branches are this one, near the west gate of Chaoyang Park, and the one on Sanlitun Beixiaojie.
reviewed
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3501 Pla Surplus Store
The Chinese armed forces, the PLA, are the largest in the world and this is where you can pick up some of their kit. Staffed by a cheery crew of middle-aged ladies, it's a good place to find cheap but hard-wearing boots, heavy greatcoats (around Y130) - ubiquitous in the Chinese winter, fur hats (around Y42), long johns and waterproofs. Binoculars, compasses, knives and watches are also available.
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Torana Gallery
The owner of this popular store, Chris Buckley, wrote the first editions of the Lonely Planet China guide back in the '80s. But nepotism isn't why his shop features here. Instead, it's the range of rugs exclusively made of wool from Tibetan highland sheep and decorated with traditional emblems. Prices start at around Y2200 and you can also custom design your own carpet.
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April Gourmet
A rival of Jenny Lou’s for the affections of home cooking–starved Westerners, April Gourmet operates three stores in Běijīng. Its selection isn’t quite as extensive as Jenny Lou’s, but the prices are similar. Cheese, fresh bread, butter, wine, sauces, Western soups, coffee, milk, meats and frozen food are all available. This branch stays open till midnight.
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Pyongyang Art Studios
Unsurpassed communist kitsch delivered straight to your hands from the axis of evil. Ponder maps of Pyongyang and browse edifying literature (Towards the Eminence of Socialism), North Korean ciggies, liquor, T-shirts, posters vilifying America, DPRK flags, postcards and badges. Grab a copy of The US Imperialists started the Korean War while you're there.
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Dongjiao Shichang
If you're after authentic local atmosphere, check out this ramshackle market. On weekends it's a sprawling sight of demanding crowds and messy stalls where everyone from old-fashioned cobblers to vendors selling pet fish set up. Several specialist buildings lurk at the back including Dongjiao Lushan Jiu Tea City, filled with stalls selling loose tea and tea sets.
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