Stores, Malls or Markets in Beijing Shi

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Qianmen area has always been of interest to me and when I first came to China, this shopping area, known as Dazhanlan (but to the locals as Dashilar) was such a busy place bustling with fast food restaurants, Time Honoured Brands (shops which have been here for hundreds of years) and a mish mash of stalls selling anything from chopsticks, to mugs which change colour when warm liquid is poured in, to Mao Memorabilia. It was a fun place to bring guests and you could always get a feel of old China here. What is extremely interesting now is that you can still get that feeling of Old China, but this time from the original Qianmen main street in the 1920s and 1930s. Buildings have been modelled against what they used to look like which I think is extremely fun and is great as a tourist area. It will definitely bring in the crowds.

Throughout this whole area, you can definitely catch a glimpse of how life used to be and exploring all the little hutongs will almost certainly make you feel like you've been transported back to Beijing in the 1920s!

What to buy: Among all the stores on the street the roast duck restaurant Quanjude might be the most famous. Opened in 1864, the Qianmen branch of the restaurant is the original. You'll find the price of a duck here higher than other duck restaurants around town but filled to capacity, Quanjude Restaurant can serve as many as 5,000 meals a day.

Also down the street, but more towards the southern end, you will find Beijing's first H&M clothing Store! This opened at the beginning of May and there were HUGE crowds! I was among them and it was not fun, but it was so exciting to have an affordable foreign clothes shop here that you just had to forget about the throngs of people and grab stuff as and when you saw it!

I would say strangely though the stone buildings along the first couple of hundred metres of the street are completely empty, but in China that is not something new. The buildings will be built and then they'll try and find occupants to fill them up! This street you will also have to remember, was on a time crunch and was literally opened to the public one day before the Olympics started last August so I presume that's also why most of it was empty. After several minutes of walking, the 'Laozihao' (time-honored brand) shops start appearing; these currently include Famous Beijing Snacks, Dumpling restaurants (Duyichu and Goubuli), and perhaps a tea shop here and there.

Your best bet at the moment to actually buy things rather than just look at fun architecture would be to head off the Main Shopping Street and go to Dashilar. This is round the back streets and has lots of great shops for buying souvenirs and has plenty of little snack restaurants too at very local prices.

What to pay: Obviously depending on what you're buying, you must remember that China is still a country of bargaining! The Qianmen Main Shopping Street will eventually have real shops and by that I mean no bargaining allowed, but the side streets that split off it, especially Dashilar area are full of shops where you definitely need to play the game! Never accept the first price and always aim for a third of what they offered you and work up slightly from there!

If you want souvenirs, there are many souvenir shops at the major attractions with all sorts of Chinese items for you to choose. The most important thing is to bargain hard as most of these souvenirs are overpriced. You can sometimes slash up to 70% or more of the original price of the items.

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The Beijing Olympic Games 2008 souvenirs are sold at many locations throughout Beijing city via authorised shops only. The prices of the items are fixed so they are the same everywhere (and no bargaining). There are souvenirs ranging from a few dollars to more than $50,000 RMB, depending on your budget. If you want variety, visit the bigger stores and one of them is located at the heart of the Wangfujing shopping area in the city centre (just next to the Forbidden City).

The markets (Silk Alley, Pearl Market, etc are all about the same) selling knock off designer label items, shoes, pearls, leather items. Be sure to bargain. If you don't like the price, the next booth has the same item. I found the best deals are to just buy from people off the street. If you have the time, walk around the city, you may just see some little shops or a table set up on a side street selling items. pan juyin market on sat, sunday is great flea market, has new stuff there too.

What to buy: pearls, bamboo coaster, chinese style clothes

What to pay: pearls real but low quality $5-20. chinese toddler dress $8. great wall tshirt $3. plastic jewerly box $5. package of 6 decorated chopsticks $5.

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For most tourists, the Silk Street Market has become a must for Beijing visitors, just like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.
You can find a large selection of bags, cases, shoes, watches, sporting goods as well as a wide range of fashionable clothes, many of which are international brands. In additional, Chinese traditional crafts and jewelry including jade, pearls and gems can also be found under the same roof. i thought most of them are FAKE...
So,Good luck and happy bargain hunting!
remember, if the seller says 500yuan,you can bargain to 250yuan.woo-hoo!

What to buy: I was planning to buy eider clothes for my winter,craft gifts for my colleagues.
But I got nothing in silk street, I am a damn stupid pig don't know how to cut price at all!

What to pay: 1000RMB

I visited Silk Street 3 weeks after its grand opening. The Silk Street is famous for ALL-FAKE** goods.

You can find North Face & Columbia jacket that are more North Face and Columbia. What I meant was the designs are more impressive than the original. Of course those winter wears are not made of high-tech materials.

When I was there, the big notice warning vendors from selling merchandises bearing names such as LV, Dunhill, North Face, Guess and others. But you still can see those brands everywhere on display, even in the joints closest to the entrance.

Note**: I think up to 99.9% of them are fake. Even iPod sold there are quite doubtful, they could be some stock overrun units.

What to buy: Anything you cannot afford the real ones.

What to pay: Ask for price 1/3 of their initial price, then add 10-30Yuan (depending on price range). They will try to close at 60% of initial price. Repeat you price 3 times, walk out of the store. They will shout for you with 50Yuan above your quoted price. Keep walking; they will let you close at your final price.

If they didn't call you to close the deal, it’s really too bad because your bargain skill sucked. Never return to the stores or they will state their price because they know you want it badly. You better try out other stores (avoid the next store) with your stiff face.

We almost didn't see electronics shops that will sell different electronic gadgets, it's just a cell phones. Cell phones are sold everywhere from like 20 manufactures that I have heard just few of them.
Computer shops didn't even see

Although most of our clothes are manufactured in China, its doesn't say a word about the clothes that are sold in China. There is a fation gap between China and West world about 15 years. There alot of proper suits sold with reasonable price. Forget about last fation jeans. We didn't found anything to buy that will serve us after this trip