Whether you're devoting a small corner of your home to traditional Chinese style or relying on a Chinese flavour as a central theme of your whole décor, chances are you'll spend quite some time in Beijing's many and varied bazaars searching for that perfect item to complete the look.

And while the story of the guy who bought the bone from Panjaiyuan for a few hundred yuan to later have it valued at a few hundred thousand is almost certainly apocryphal, it does add a certain zest to one's browsing pleasure(Chinese law forbids exporting pre-1795 antiques. For goods dated 1796 - 1949, a small red seal and a Relic Export certificate of the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau (BCRB) are required to send an item out of China. Penalties for error are severe, so keep your receipts and all other documentation).

Panjiayuan - The Dirt Market
Once upon a time when a family fell on hard times here in Beijing, the shame of being forced to hock the family furniture meant that the sellers were keen not to be recognized in the act, with the inevitable loss of face involved. The solution for many was to do the selling very early in the morning, when darkness would shroud the dishonourable deed. And so the tradition of taking a torch with you to Panjiayuan, and arriving as early as 4:30 a.m. to snatch up the good stuff was born. These days the market is neither open that early nor is it only a weekend affair.

Even with the new extended hours, the best time to go is before noon on a Saturdays or Sunday. The 3,000-stall market is absolutely overflowing with curios, ceramics, antiques and reproductions, carpets, scrolls, and furniture from all over China. Spend a little extra time on the carvings - the range is extensive and if you are looking for a centrepiece it is hard to pass up a classic Buddha.

Caveat Emptor: as Panjiayuan is the setting for most of the wild fables about finding unrecognized valuables from the Yuan Dynasty (!) so too is it the centre of the vast inauthentic reproduction industry. There have been instances of real antiques being unmarked as such (and getting exporters into legal hot water) and also instances of reproductions being passed off as antiques, fake red seal and all.

How to get there: 100 metres west of the Panjiayuan Bridge on the Third Ring Road. Approx. 10-yuan (US$1.21) taxi ride from Guomao Subway Station (China World Trade Center). Open daily from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Liulichang Cultural Relics Street
This crowded hutong has a history that stretches back to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and is a great place to go for the traditional "four treasures of the study": calligraphy brushes, inks, ink stones and paper. The renovated streetscape, rebuilt in the 1980s in Qing style, is part of the pleasure of browsing here. Recently blocked off to cars, these days the whole experience is much more pleasant, as one can freely stroll the narrow lane. Many artisans man their own shops, so it is not unusual to hear expert sounds from an erhu coming from a music store, or to see Chinese watercolours in the process of being created.

Caveat Emptor: As with the buildings, the treasures on sale here are, almost without exception, recent copies. Do not believe the salesperson's patter that you've stumbled across real antiquity - tell a better story in return and bargain hard. An "old China hand" rule of thumb is this: anywhere that accepts credit cards is bound to be pricier than places that accept cash only.

How to get there: 15 minutes walk south of Hepingmen Subway Station. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. - some stores open extended hours.

Beijing Curio City
The biggest centre for curio trade in Asia, the charm of Curio City is that many of the stalls are run by people who have a real collector's love of what they do, rather than being just shop assistants.

Specializing in antique pottery, original paintings, jadeware and raw jade, bone carvings, antique furniture, pearls, antique carpets and antique time pieces, Curio City has something for people of all ages.

Caveat Emptor: Curio City is a supervised market, which does inspire a certain confidence, however for receipts to be useful here, as anywhere, they must bear the name of the store, the style and age of the antique, and the BCRB certification of the store.

How to get there: Just off the East Third Ring Road (to the west), about 15 minutes taxi ride south of Guomao Subway Station (China World Trade Center). Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.