Shopping
Shopping is an integral part of any trip, and it’s no less important because you’re in Beijing. The city is full of wonderful bargains, but it’s just as full of shopkeepers who will rip off foreigners without batting an eyelash.
Beijing is filled with upscale shopping malls, especially at Wangufjing, Kerry Centre, World Trade Center and Lufthansa Center. You can easily spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on name-brand items you could just as easily buy at home. But you can have more fun shopping at street markets where it is a challenge to pay the lowest prices. Such markets and stores see dollar signs when they see foreigners and quote them prices that are many, many times higher than the prices quoted to Chinese. Shopping therefore becomes an exercise in who has the best bargaining skills — you or the shopkeeper. To give you an example: one time at the Panjiayuan market, I saw a clay teapot I wanted. The seller quoted me a price of 160 rmb, which I knew was ridiculous as I’d paid 10 rmb for the same teapot a few days earlier. He quoted a Chinese man next to me 35 rmb for the same teapot. The man, who happened to be in our shopping party, bargained him down to 20 rmb and bought it for me. Shopkeepers generally use pocket calculators when bargaining with foreigners. That way you both just key in numbers. Don’t be afraid to walk away if the vendor won’t meet your price. He is likely to run after you and accept your price. But if he doesn,t then your price was probably too low and he would have lost money on the sale. Just keep walking, as some other shop will likely have the same thing. Hongqiao Department Store Hongqiao Department Store is out favorite place to shop in Beijing, and we usually make a couple of shopping trips there every time we’re visiting. The top floor of the main store is the best place to go for souvenirs. I love to buy handpainted Christmas ornaments there, and pay $3 - $4 for ornaments you’d pay $15 - $25 for in the United States.If you like jewelry, especially pearls, this is where you’ll want to shop. You’ll also find lots of cloisonne items, imaginative canes (my husband’s fav), and just about anything your heart desires. Bargaining is mandatory. The second floor is a good place to buy luggage and inexpensive clothes, such as t-shirts and silk blouses. A couple of years ago I paid the equivalent of $13US for laptop briefcase that would have cost me $40 at home. Some toys are located on the first floor but most are on the bottom floor in the back building. You can find the latest fad toys here long before they’re for sale in the United States. How to get there: Take subway Line 5 to Tiantandongmen (Temple of Heaven east gate) then walk north for a couple of minutes. Silk Alley Silk Alley isn’t as much fun as it used to be back when it was a street market, with stall after stall near the old American embassy. A few years ago, it moved to a multi-story building just down Jianguomen Avenue. Silk Alley vendors always were aggressive but have moved beyond agrgressive, now reaching out to pull you into their shops. I went once to the new building, but was so upset by the aggressiveness, I never went back, and I used to be a frequent shopper at the old market. If you go, be sure to bargain. Vendors will give you 25 percent off just because you’re their good friend, even though they’ve never seen you before! Liulichang Liulichang is another fun place to stop, especially if you like Chinese antiques or want to buy art supplies. It also has a lot of art galleries where you can buy Chinese paintings and book stores. Liulichang has been restored as a Ming Dynasty shopping street How to get there: Take the Line 2 subway to Hepingmen and walk south about five minutes. |
PanjiayuanPanjiayuan is the place to go for Chinese antiques, and arts and crafts. It's a colorful place as the above pictures show. It’s located just off southeastern Third Ring Road, and has hundreds of vendors. Bargaining is expected here, though vendors won’t go as low as they used to. Watch out for pickpockets.
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Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.