Beijing has an interesting selection of arts, crafts and antiques available from outdoor markets, covered markets, department stores and even a few boutiques. Items such as calligraphy, chinaware, antiques and bric-a-brac are popular and available almost everywhere.

Quality varies greatly, as does the price tag - don't expect that porcelain vase in the street market to be a priceless antique. However the selection and price are reasonable for those looking for a couple of souvenirs. Favorite places for shopping are in the Liulichang area (specializing in arts and crafts), at the top floor of the Hongqiao market or at the weekend Panjiayuan antique market. Also popular with tourists is the Silk Alley market, which sells all manners of fake brand name clothing and a few other interesting bits and pieces.

Note: Bargaining in markets is an absolute necessity and should be conducted with vigor, as the local residents do, and merchandise bearing an international brand name is best considered fake, regardless of the stallholder's protestations.

Beijing is one of the best places to find antique furniture or have furniture made to order, although the cost of shipping can be expensive.

International brand goods are available in Beijing, but are generally as expensive as elsewhere. They are readily available in the glittering new shopping malls of Wangfujing or Xidan.

There are various places to go for shopping, depending on what buyers expect and the prices they are prepared to pay. Beijing has some major shopping streets and big shopping centers. Below are detailed information on different places of shopping including special markets for special goods like antiques, arts and crafts, paintings and calligraphy, silk and books and open markets, free markets, small shops and some special shops.

Wangfujing Business Street
Wangfujing is located to the east of Tiananmen Square and stretches from Chinese Art Gallery to the Dongchan'an Avenue with a history of more than 100 years. It houses a wide variety of shops and boutiques where you can find all kinds of commodities, some of which are of world-famous brands. The recently finished Oriental Plaza, which is considered another miracle in Chinese architectural history, is scheduled for completion soon. It stands just by the south entrance of Wangfujing.

The best-known shop is the Beijing Department Store. To the north of the department Store is the One World Department Store, hosting a collection of Chinese and foreign name brands and fine quality products. La Fayette presents French features, namely fashions and name brands. The newly-opened Sun Dong'an Market is the largest supermarket in Beijing. It covers a business floor space of 100,000 square meters and sells more than 200,000 kinds of goods.
Besides modern department stores, the Foreign Language Bookstore is also in this area. The Old-Beijing-Street is now seated underground, which was built and decorated in Ming and Qing style. The outstanding characteristic of it is the centralized well-known longstanding stores selling shoes, caps, silk cloth, scissors, Chinese brushes and ink-stick, jade articles, tea, desserts, pickled vegetables, roast ducks and so on.

The most popular sites for souvenir photos are the sculptures on both street sides, reflecting life of old Beijing.

Qianmen
Qianmen Street was a commercial center of Beijing more than 500 years ago. Its old shops and small stalls are preferred by Beijingers. Not far from Tian'anmen Square is Xidan, which is regarded as the second Wangfujing. The street is lined with shopping centers, food bazaars and garment markets.

Xidan Commercial Street
Xidan Commercial Street is on Xidanbei Dajie, in Xicheng District, westof Tiananmen Square. It is developed after the found of China and is famous for commerce, entertainment, dinning, and finance and so forth. Like Wangfujing, you also can see modern and old stores here such as Shengxifu hats shop and Jingyi glasses shop.