Address: north of Esat Chang'an Street
What to buy: souvenirs, clothing
Wangfujing is a 700-year-old commercial street in Beijing. It has maintained its position as the number one choice for shoppers since the mid-1980s. The Wangfujing Department Store has long been acknowledged as the largest, most fashionable one-stop shopping center in Beijing. It has a total length of about 1.5 kilometers, running North/South between Wangfujing Nankou and the Sun Dong An Plaza.
What do you want to buy? Wangfujing Commercial Street is filled with large shops, hotels, specialty shops and its illustrious old-time Beijing shops. It is the sister street of Champs Elysees in France. In addition to the modern shopping atmosphere, this street has preserved its traditional style.
Wanfujing Street boasts a shoppers paradise of merchants catering to every desire; Oriental Plaza, Wangfujing Department Store, Foreign Language Bookstore, Danyao Building, Gongmei Building, Wangfu Women Department Store, Moslem Building, Sun Dong An Plaza, Shengxifu, Tongshenghe, Donglaishun, Silian Hairdressing, Baicao Drugstore, and it is famous for its celebrated long-established shops selling the shoes of Neiliansheng and Buyingzhai, the hats of Shengxifu and Majuyuan, the silks of Ruifuxiang, the scissors of Wangmazi, the writing brushes produced in Huzhou and ink sticks produced in Huizhou of Daiyuexuan, the antiques and jade wares of Jiguge, the tea leaves of Yuanchanghou, the cakes of Daoxiangchun, Guixiangcun and Xiangjugong, the roast ducks of Quanjude, the pickles of Liubiju, the pork cooked in soy sauce of Tianfuhao, the traditional snacks and Hongluo preserved fruits are sold in the shops along this street of old Beijing.
At night, when Wangfujing Street turns on its ever increasing number of neon advertising signs, even more crowds flock to soak up the atmosphere. The neon can now be compared to those of any major city in the world and are very popular with the tourists, especially those coming from less developed parts of China. Most shops stay open till around 9pm and sometimes there will be an impromptu night market.
