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 Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:15 pm Post subject: Beijing Shopping guide |
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Beijing Shopping guide
As one of the historic capitals of China, Beijing has long been an attractive place for skilled craftsmen to come and seek patronage. For this reason, it is possible to find some of the best examples of Chinese craftsmanship in this city.
The so-called "famous characters" of handicrafts: cloisonne, ivory carvings, jade, and carved lacquerware are prime examples. Other enticing art pieces and cultural items include the "treasures" of Chinese scholarly tradition (the Chinese writing brush, ink sticks, ink wells, and paper), Chinese calligraphy and paintings, silk embroidery, jewelry and stone chops carved with one's name (another symbol of the Chinese scholarly tradition).
What to Buy
Beijing Native Productions
Shopping in Beijing is becoming more convenient by the day. Every year new shopping centers and palazs are sprouting up all over the capital. Just a few years ago there was only a few department stores and small bazaars, but now there are many supper-stores, mega-malls and markets where you can buy just about anything you need. Recently, the first IKEA just opened in the north of the city. There is a huge PriceSmart which is a discount wholesale food stuffs market for cardholders only.
Antiques
A good place to find a wide selection of antiques is at Liulichang. Liulichang is a street in Hepingmen, and many of the stores are quite old. This area has everything from scrolls, to jade articles to decades-old cigarette ad posters.
Another large antiques market is the antiques City at Panjiayuan. This is a multi-story building which is full of antiques and general kitsch.
Beijing Curio City, gathering more than 250 curio shops under one roof, is China's largest trade center for antiques and folk art works.
Many of the dealers are themselves connoisseurs and curio collectors. Antiques that date before 1795 are forbidden for sale or export. Those dated between 1796 and 1949 should bear a small red seal and a Certificate for Relics Export from the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau (BCRB), to allow them to be taken out of China. The seal also proves the genuineness of the items.
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 an art form developed in the 15th century, and now used to decorate vases, bowls, lamps, jewelry and ornaments.
The art of cloisonné (Jingtailan) is a unique combination of sculpture, painting, porcelain making and coppersmithing that is said to have originated in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty. To make a cloisonné piece, a copper body is first made and then intricate engravings are made with a copper wire. Different colored pigments are next applied to the engravings. Finally, the piece is fired and polished.
The oldest existing piece was made during the Yuan Dynasty, but Jingtailan underwent a major change during the Ming Dynasty when at about 1450 to 1456, a new blue pigment was discovered and gave Jingtailan its current name based on the Chinese word for blue (lan). Ming Dynasty cloisonné is also considered to be the most intricate. Nevertheless, Jingtailan reached its peak during the Qing Dynasty due to great innovations in coppersmithing techniques.
Jingtailan can be found on large objects such as vases and other large utensils and decorative items, as well as small items like earrings, bracelets, chopsticks or jars. Beijing people like to give Jingtailan as gifts for it is something inherently Beijing. Jingtailan bought in tourist souvenir shops and stalls can be either expensive or rather reasonable. Try to bargain and you can walk away with a pretty souvenir of your visit to China's capital.
Lacquerware
Laequerware 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 screen.
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.
For thousands of years, the Chinese people have given jade objects as gifts or used them to decorate one's home or person. In the past, jade was a symbol of status and rank in Chinese society and nobles would carry jade jewelry and official stamps made of jade on their person at all times. In modern times, Jade is often a symbol of wealth and is still considered to be lucky. It is said that if a lady wears a jade bracelet, then any bad luck will be stopped, causing the bracelet to break.
In Beijing, many jade craftsmen flocked to Beijing to make a name for themselves as master craftsmen and set up shop in the Chongwenmen area. In this way, Beijing gradually became one of the centers for producing this art. The art of jade cutting is very demanding and requires approximately seven years of apprenticeship to completely master. Jade cutters are very careful about wasting the precious material and will often design a piece based on the shape of the original rough stone.
Generally Beijing style jade objects are divided into two types. The first is large sized objects, including incense burners, vases, tea sets, figurines, birds, animals, or even life-sized peach trees. Wealthier Beijingers like to decorate reception areas with one or two large jade vases. The second type can be quite small like rings, necklaces, stamps with one's name carved on the bottom, hair or clothes pins.
Carpets
Carpets, modern and antique, for use as tapestries or rugs, are plentiful and available at bargain prices. Those make in Beijing are close-woven with fine wool cut into sharp, elegant patterns, such as the dragon and phoenix design. Beautiful silk carpets and rugs from other provinces in China are also available in the capital
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 Xiushui and Yabaolu sell all kinds of silk clothing from shirts, underwear and trousers, to pajamas and bedspreads at negotiable prices.
Painting & Calligraphy Scrolls
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.
Handicraft
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.
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.
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.
Medicine
Chinese pharmacies sell various kinds of nutritious pills and tonics made from herbs. TongRenTang, as other traditional pharmacies, have a resident doctor in charge of taking your pulse and making prescriptions.
Most large department stores and supermarkets have special drug counters.
Others
Cotton shoes, Snow-Lotus cashmere sweaters, woolen bed sheets, cotton shirts, and other practical clothing items are some of the bargains in the world.
Where to Buy
Beijing Major Shopping Area
Some people say the Silk Market (Xiu Shui) is for foreigners and Xidan is for Beijingers. But whatever you are looking for, shopping is good sport and a pleasure for those who like to search for bargains. Big shopping centers in Beijing contain just about everything anyone could imagine. Many offer free concerts, fashion shows or other entertainment. Lufthansa, SOGO and Chung-yo are favorites, but so are the renovated Wangfujing and Xidan areas, Beijing's most modern shopping malls. For more down-to-earth shopping, why don? you try Beijing's open-air markets? In these places, successful shopping requires patience, time, a good eye for a bargain and bargaining skills.
Wangfujing
This street is named for the 10 princes” mansion and their sweet-water well that was built during the Ming Dynasty. It was forbidden in those days to dig wells at random near the Imperial Palace. According to the principles of Chinese geomancy, the position of a building or tomb in relation to its natural landscape affects the fortune of its occupants. Drilling into the earth near the emperor's home without allowances for fengshui (wind and water) might have brought ruin to the royal family. As the only well in this neighborhood, and because it was prized as a scarce commodity, the well was closely monitored by the resident aristocracy.
The street, forever a trendsetter, has been reformed to a mostly pedestrian shopping mall, although bus services still use the street otherwise closed to vehicular traffic.
The best-known shop is the Beijing Department Store. To the north of the department Store is the One World Department Store, which features a collection of Chinese and foreign name brands and fine quality products. Sun Dong An Market is the largest market in Beijing with 100,000 square meters of floor area housing more than 200,000 kinds of goods.
Qianmen
Dashilan street was a commercial center of Beijing more than 500 years ago. Its old shops and small stalls are preferred by Beijingers.
Xidan
The Chung-Yo Department Store and the Xidan Market provide an ideal shopping, dining and entertainment environment. Chung-Yo's business is usually brisk. It offers monthly promotions, such as its Teacher's Day promotion on September 10, a "Clone Competition" (Chung-Yo takes photos of families and selects those that resemble each other the most). Discounted prices cause even the thriftiest of consumers to open their wallets without a thought. All the world's name-brand products are abundant here, which reflects Beijing's growing cosmopolitan presence. Rock'n'roll, shouting assistants, fashions make Xidan a paradise for shoppers.
Beginning this month, shoppers can enjoy "Open-air shopping", two corridors will link the four shopping centers. One is between Chung-Yo Department Store and the Pacific Department Store; the other lies between Huawei Mansion and its opposite building. Shopping promotions are being featured.
Silver Street
Silver Street is in the Dongdan Beidajie. It is where all the franchised foreign name-brand shops are concentrated.
Jianguomenwai Dajie
Jianguomenwai Dajie is famous for its colorful metropolitan scenes. The street is lined with star-rated hotels, office buildings, fancy restaurants, beauty salons and shopping centers. The well-known shopping centers are Friendship Store, SCITECH Plaza, Guiyou Department Store and the China World Shopping Mall.
The Silk Market
Despite its name, the Silk Market has much more than just silk. The silk products here are cheap, and therefore popular, but there are also a lot of cashmere garments, down jackets, leather goods, shoes, hats, watches and some handicrafts and trinkets. The Silk Market basically consists of a long, narrow street (XiushuiJie) lined with dozens of stalls. One of the main things about the Silk Market is the fact that none of the prices are set. It is often helpful to bring along a Chinese friend who can help you bargain.
Liulichang
The famous Liulichang street lies in Hepingmen since the Qing Dynasty for 200 years. There, those who failed in the imperial examination usually sold their books and inkslabs, and the declined families' heritages exchanged money with their antique collections. It became gradually a market consisted of about 100 shops dealing in traditional works and articles.
Works of Chinese calligraphy and traditional Chinese paintings, old wood block-print books, Chinese ink brushes, inkslabs and paper for calligraphy known as the for treasures of the study and other scholars traditional tools can be found in Liulichang.
Rongbaozhai, being the most important shop there, has more than 300 years' history and a fine copy technique for old Chinese painting.
Tourism-administration-designated stores
Tourism-administration-designated stores are specially open for overseas guests but an increasing number of local residents also shop here because of the stores unique stock and good service. They are ideal places to buy arts and crafts, antiques and other Beijing specialties. Money changing, postal and consigning services are often offered.
Century-old stores
Century-old stores, like those in Beijing's hutongs (alleys) and siheyuan (courtyards), have become part of the city's history. Their fame and location in some of the most bustling downtown areas keep them busy but, at the same time, the stores are small and offer a relatively poor shopping environment.
For those travelers who prefer folk handicrafts, traditional figurines made from clay, dough or silk, colorful kites and paper-cuts are fascinating pieces to add to any collection. Similarly, many travelers buy Chinese musical instruments to play or just as ornaments. In recent years, traditional Chinese furniture and antique furniture have become more popular and fashionable.
Beyond the traditional, since China opened its doors to the outside world, many large modern department stores and shopping centers have appeared in Beijing. World famous international brands have also settled down here. Read about the major shopping areas in Beijing below or search our shopping index for shopping centers and other options. |
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