Shopping in BeiJing

You will find that China is a great place for shopping. Prices are normally cheaper than in western countries, and the selection of all kinds of basic things is huge. Of course, to get the best price, you always need to go through a certain amount of bargaining, sometimes a lot, but that is also part of the fun!

wang Fu Jing

Wang fu jing:

More and more plazas and huge shopping centres are opening up in Beijing. One of the biggest in Beijing is the Oriental Plaza (Dōngfāng Guangchang; 东方广场), which occupies the area between Dongdan (东单) and Wang fu jing (the whole distance between two subway stations). There are also other shopping centres in Wangfujing that might be interesting to take a look at, but prices are higher than elsewhere. The street has a lovely atmosphere, though. Just north of the Oriental Plaza is the Wangfujing bookstore, which is huge but unfortunately, unless you can read Chinese, you’ll be better off with the Foreign Language Bookstore (wàiwén shūdiàn; 外文书店) a couple hundred metres further north and on the other (west) side of the same walking street.

You are not likely to have luck bargaining at Wangfujing.

 

Address:Wangfujing Department Store: No.255, Wangfujing Street Dongcheng. (Line 1, Wangfujing Step)

Oriental Plaza: No.1,Chan’an Street, Dongcheng District.

Foreign Language Bookstore：No.29, Wangfujing Street Dongcheng District.

 

Xidan

• Xidan (西单) is three subway stations further west from Wangfujing, and is another big shopping area with big shopping centres on both sides of the street running north from Chang’an road. The big difference between Wangfujing and Xidan is that you can and have to bargain here, even in the bigger stores, and even on items like electronic appliances and such, however, they probably have less margin on those than on clothing.

 

• Address: Xidan: North Street, Xidan, Xicheng District.( Line 1 or Line 4 Xidan Step)

XiuShuiJie

Xiushuijie (秀水街) is often referred to as “the silk market” by foreigners. It falls in the same ballpark as Yaxiu, but with even more foreigners. It is located at the northwest corner of the intersection at Yonganli (永安里) subway station (Line 1), very close to the American Embassy. The market used to be a mass of street vendors, which was probably one of the last remaining big markets of that kind in Beijing. Now they have moved into a shiny new building.

Address:

Xiushui: No.8, East Street, Xiushui, Chaoyang District.

Yabaolu:Best known among foreigners as “Alien Street”, or “Yabaolu” (雅宝路), this place has also moved into a new building recently, from a huge construction reminiscent of hangars. It is between Chaoyangmen (朝阳门) and Dongdaqiao (东大桥), and sells clothing. This is also one of those “expat places”, but it is refreshing that vendors will most likely scream at you in Russian instead of English if you are Caucasian. This is also considered the “Russian district” in Beijing. To get there take the loop line to Chaoyangmen (朝阳门) and walk from there.

New World: Xin Shijie (新世界), or New World Plaza is located not much north of Chongwenmen subway station (Loop Line). It is a big western style shopping centre, and has an ice skating rink open all year. You can visit their website at www.championrink.com. Their English is quite funky, but you can get the main idea.

Address:New World: No.3-No.5, Chongmenwai Ave, Chongmen District. (Line 2, Chongwenmen Step)

 

Zhongguancun

• Zhongguancun (中关村) is often referred to as the “Silicon Valley” of Beijing, but its far off location makes it inconvenient. It is next to Beijing University not far from the Wudaokou area, which can be reached by subway Line 13. From there, hop on bus number 731 or 307 towards the west.

• Address:Zhongguancun: Zhongguancun Ave, Haidian District. (Line 4, Zhongguancun Step)

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Sanlitun

Sanlitun (Chinese: 三里屯; pinyin: Sānlǐtún) is an area of the Chaoyang District, Beijing containing many popular bar streets and international stores.

The area has been under almost constant regeneration since the late 20th century as part of a city-wide project of economic regrowth. It currently houses many bars and clubs popular with both expatriates and locals as well as international brand-name stores such as American Apparel, Apple Inc. and Adidas. It is notable for housing the largest Adidas store in the world. The YaShow (雅秀) market is also in the area, a popular destination for tourists wishing to buy counterfeit clothes.

The Village and Nali Mall shopping areas opened in the summer 2008, giving the area many new shops, restaurants, bars and a multiplex cinema.
In April 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics and as part of an ongoing operation to clean up the city, a major drug bust occurred in Sanlitun and many arrests were made. A total of four bars and clubs were effectively closed, including a notorious bar known for its cheap alcohol and availability of drugs. The police operation was widely criticized for its violence and absence of proper due process. A number of drug dealers as well as a barman are believed to have received the death penalty as a result of this operation.
Sanlitun's bar street is extremely popular for expatriates and young foreign teenagers to blow off steam, party and drink. They have many bars which have a variety of cheap liquor and fun dance areas. The clubs street of Beijing is a 15min taxi ride away. The main source of underage drinking is from the expat teens from all over the world who indulge in the ability to drink underage without anyone asking for id or checking their age. The nightlife for underage teens is frequently quite unrestricted compared that in the home countries of the foreign teens living as expats in Beijing.