You can buy just about anything imaginable on a Beijing shopping trip, and often for impossibly low prices. It's normally a short hop from Beijing's luxury fashion malls to funky boutiques, vast markets and small antique dealers. The shopping districts of Wangfujing and Xidan draw Beijing's trendy young shoppers, while Sanlitun is worth a trip for the popular Ya Show fashion market.
Go west of the Forbidden City to find cheap but funky fashion in the shopping malls and boutiques around Wangfujing and Xidan. In the west, find Beijing's best luxury shopping, with stores like Gucci and Versace. Head on a shopping trip to the east find local designers at Sanlitun's 3.3 mall, then onto nearby Ya Show fashion market for Beijing's best designer copies.
If you love markets, Beijing is a shopping heaven. Buy everything from ethnic outfits to Peking Opera masks, propaganda posters and old gramophones in south-east Beijing's Panjiayuan market, a must in any Beijing shopping trip. For girly shopping, head to Beijing's Silk Market in Jianguomen for a hundred shopping trips' worth of accessories and Beijing's best Tiffany copies. Hongqiao Market, a shopping paradise next to the Temple of Heaven, brims with a bizarre mix of beautiful pearls, silk, electronics and Beijing's biggest fish market. For an unforgettable food shopping experience, head to the Donghuamen Food Market to buy scorpions and dried seahorses.
Get suits tailor-made or dresses copied for outrageously low prices at east Beijing's Ya Show market. Liulichang Culture Street is the place to go shopping for traditional scrolls and other treasures. Whenever shopping in Beijing, remember to carry cash and bargain for everything. And leave suitcase space for the trip home.
