1800What? Beijing Windows

A small plaza in Dongdan

The Oriental Plaza

Glory International Center,Dongdan&ChangAn Revenue, Beijing

Agriculture Bank of China Building,Dongdan, Beijing

Dongdan Street, look northward

Dongdan Street, look southward

Silver - The Chinese Character

Beijing APM， Wangfujing Street

Washroom of Beijing APM， Wangfujing

A ZERO COKE POSTER

MAO’S PHOTO DISPLAYED IN THE WINDOW OF NEW CHINA PHOTO STUDIO

KFC AD IN THE SUBWAY

Modern Chinese supermarkets are organized much in the same way as their Western counterparts. Actually, the most famous one in Beijing is Carrefour which is a French chain. The top three supermarket chains in Beijing are Carrefour, Hualian, and Wu-Mart.

Supermarkets in Beijing offer all kinds of goods such as meet, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh seafood, snacks, dried and canned food, bread, dairy products, instant noodles, dumplings, food box, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and household articles. The goods are usually beautifully presented and of excellent quality. Also the cashier system is well organized and efficient. However, it is usually very crowded at the check out particularly during weekend.

Xidan is one of the major shopping areas in Beijing. In fact, it is the second popular one just after Wangfujing, and it is the most frequently visited commercial area by Beijing local residents, especially the young generation. Xidan is composed by one giant bookstore, one plaza, three department stores, one newly opened 9-story shopping mall, and numerous small shops. It’s located in the Xicheng district of Beijing, north of West Chang’an Avenue, and west of Tiananmen. With the opening of “The Joy City Mall” and a major redevelopment which has completed before the Olympics, Xidan is becoming a more internationalized and attractive commercial area.

Xidan Bookstore Mansion
Address: 20 ChangAn Avenue West, Beijing, China
Phone: 86-10, 6607-8477
Business Hour: Monday – Sunday, 9 am-7 pm.
Floor plan:
Basement Level: Foreign original books
Level 1: Social science books
Level 2: Teenage and literary books
Level 3: Education books and digital publications
Level 4: Technology and professional books

It is the largest bookstore in Asia and the largest Chinese bookstore in the world. Conveniently located right next to the entrance to the Xidan subway station, this 8,000 square meters Xidan bookstore offers more than 300,000 varieties of books, video and audio products, and electronic publications. The bookstore occupies five floors of the giant building, but still very crowded, especially during weekend. Xidan Bookstore also often hosts all kinds of PR events for publishers. It is more likely to see a famous Chinese writer in this building than in any other places of Beijing.

The Grand Pacific Mall
Chinese Website: http://www.grandpacific-mall.com.cn

This upscale mall used to be the best shopping place in Xidan area. But since the opening of the Joy City Mall next to it, the Grand Pacific Mall has lost its glories. You can find several restaurants and a variety of local and imported snacks at its underground floor. First floor sells cosmetics, brand name shoes and a wide collection of jewelries. Second floor and above are for clothing and house wares.

In short, the Grand Pacific Mall offers a variety of products and services, such as:
• unisex clothing stores
• ladies wear, clothing and shoes
• men’s wear and clothing stores
• cosmetics, health and beauty
• sporting goods
• electronics
• fashion accessories
• gifts, books and stationary
• jewelry stores
• specialty shopping
• luggage and handbags

Zhongyou Department Store
Address: 176 Xidan North Street, Beijing, China
Phone: 86-10 6601-8899

Zhongyou is one of the oldest department stores in the Xidan commercial area. Many international brands, such as Chanel and Nautica, have branch stores here. However, what make Zhongyou standing out are the middle ranged domestic brands. At all festivals and almost every weekend, Zhongyou hosts some kind of promotion events or “shopping festivals”. Shoppers can get great deals at half price or even cheaper. This probably is the reason why the simple decorated Zhongyou is always the busiest and most crowded store in Xidan area.

The Joy City

This is the largest, newest and best shopping mall in Xidan now. A detailed introduction about the Joy City and many pictures are available here.

Xidan Department Store

This 70-year history store was used to be the flagship store in Xidan. But I am wondering why this old fashion government-owned store is still open now. Maybe it caters to the needs of middle aged and senior Beijingers. But this assumption still cannot explain why it does not have many shoppers even during the busiest shopping season.

77th Street Plaza

77th Street Plaza is the first shopping mall that features fashion and entertainment for young people in Beijing. It is located under Xidan Culture Square and linked to subway line 2 at the Xidan station. A DJ bar is set up for many shows and sales promotion featuring the latest hot fashions and clothes designs.There is also a 4D cinema, indoor skating rink, Korean town and many amazing fashion clothes and shoe shops.

Xidan Road and ChangAn Avenue West

Xidan

Xidan

Grand Pacific Mall Beijing

Zhongyou Department Store

Xidan Book Store
 

The Joy City Beijing

Address: No. 131 Xidan Beidajie, Xicheng District
Transportation: Subway Line 1 – Xidan Station
Major Stores (Floor 1 – 5): Zara, UNIQLO, GUESS, CK, Espirit, Muji, NEXT
Major F&B(Floor 6 – 8): Banana Leaf Thai Food, Macau Dolar Hotpot, Mr. Pizza, Happy Dragon Taiwan Snacks, Starbucks, RBT Bubble Tea, Mango Mango Ice-cream,
Accommodation(Floor 6 – 11): The Joy City Hotel and Service Apartment.
Surroundings: The Grand Pacific Mall, Zhongyou Department Store, Xidan Bookstore, Bank of China Headquarter, Xidan Culture Plaza, and West Changan Avenue
Good for: Shopping, Dining, Hangout
Website: www.xidanjoycity.com

Xidan probably is young Beijingers’ favorite shopping, dining and entertainment area. Unlike Wangfujing, shops and malls in Xidan are more catered to the locals rather than tourists. There were two major stores in this area, the Grand Pacific Mall and Zhongyou Department Store. However, the opening of the Joy City in early 2008 made Xidan more attractive to young people.

The Joy City officially opened on February, 2008. It’s developed by COFCO, the largest oils and food importer and exporter in China and a leading food manufacturer, and managed by a Hong Kong Management Team. It beats all the other older malls in size, design and concept.

Once inside you will be amazed by the huge spacious decorated in a variety of themes as they stretch up toward the top. Above the 7 floors of retail space, the building then provides apartment and hotel accommodation.

This massive 13 storey new mall comes equipped with world’s longest escalator (from 1st floor directly to the 6th floor), the largest digital cinema in China with totally 13 screens, and the largest open cosmetic shop in Beijing. Many stores cover a great range of stylish and price ranges. There are more than 30 international brands settling in at the first Beijing branch of Joy City. Zara opens its second shop in Beijing there, so does FAB and Guess, and Uniqlo, Next, Motivi, Muji, and Honeys appear in Beijing for the first time. The Joy City is a good place for dining as well. You can find Sichuan food, local snacks, ,Japanese foodThai food, hotpot, noodle, ice cream store, bubble tea stand,

Logo of The JOY CITY Xidan
 

Huge Decoration

Lobby of The Joy City Beijing

Massive Decoration in the Joy City Beijing 

Entrance of the Joy City Beijing

Columns

Directory of the Joy City Beijing

Lobby

Hall

Decoration

The Joy City Hotel Beijing

The Joy City Hotel Beijing

Wangfujing is regarded as the ” First Shopping Street” of China by Chinese people. As a result, it is one of the must see areas in Beijing for travelers from home and abroad.

Wangfujing literally means “Well of Prince’s Mansion” in Chinese. During the Qing dynasty, eight aristocratic estates and princess residence were built here, soon after when a well full of sweet water was discovered; therefore the street was named WANGFUJING.

The major part of the street is for pedestrian only. It starts from Wangfujing St. and Changan Avenue , where the newly built Oriental Plaza and the five star Beijing Hotel are located. It then heads north, passing the Wangfujing Bookstore, the Beijing Department Store as well as the Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore before ending at the Xin Dong An Plaza. The Wangfujing street is worth strolling even if you do not want to buy anything. Actually, do not expect many good bargains here. When you check the price tag, you will find most of goods are even more expensive than the comparable one you can buy in your home country.

Major Stores

· Oriental Plaza Mall
The Malls at Oriental Plaza consist of individually distinct themed shopping zones covering a vast 120,000 sq. m. area. This upscale shopping mall home many luxury brands such as Gucci and Burberry. The cuisine street at its underground floor is quite good; you can find many local Chinese and Western foods over there.

· Xin Dong An Plaza
This huge mall surrounds twin atriums and is filled with designer clothing shops. Aside from the usual Western food chains — Baskin-Robbins, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, KFC, Starbucks, and Delifrance — there’s an excellent hot pot restaurant, Dong Lai Shun, on the fifth floor.

· Beijing Department Store
The Beijing Wangfujing Department Store, which was established in 1955, was the first major department store in China since the establishment of People’s Republic of China. By the end of 1997, the store had quickly adapted to the new competitive economic environment by giving itself a new facelift with total open counters. Such as luxuroius decorative work and modernized lightings & fixtures. Due to the high ceiling of the building, there is no escalator between each floor.

· New China Woman and Children Department Store
This store was established by Soong Ching-ling or Madme Sun Yat-sen.

· Traditional Chinese Craft Stores
The most famous ones are Wuyutai Tea Shop-Since 1887, Ruifuxiang Silk-Since 1862, Rongbaozhai Art Gallery-Since 1672.

Food

There are two Food Republic, which is a food court chain run by the BreadTalk Group based in Singapore, in the Wangfujing area, one is at the underground floor of Oriental Plaza, and the other one is at the 6th floor of the Xin Dong An Plaza. If you are in a rush, several McDonald’s, KFC and other western fast food chain stores are available on street corners. The famous Dong Lai Shun Hotpot and Quan Ju De Beijing Roasted Duck have their respective flagship restaurant in this area as well.

Hotels

Since it’s the downtown area and very close to major attractions and business district of Beijing, hotels in Wangfujing area usually charges 10% - 50% more than similar standard hotels in other areas of Beijing

· Luxury Hotels:
The Peninsula Hotel Beijing(5 star), Beijing Hotel(5), Beijing Grand Hotel(5), Grand Hyatt Hotel(5), Prime Hotel(5), Wangfujing Grand Hotel(5). Tianlun Dynasty Hotel(5), Crown Plaza Hotel(5), Regent Hotel(5), Legendale Hotel (5)

· Quality Hotels:
Novotel Peace Hotel (4 star), Taiwan Hotel (3), Tianlun Songhe Hotel (3), Park Plaza Hotel(4), North Garden Hotel(4)

· Economic Hotels:
Dawan Hotel (2 star), Fuhao Hotel(2)

Transportation

Wangfujing Street is conveniently located in the central area of Beijing. There are many public transportation routes into Wangfujing area. The most efficient method is to take subway line 1 at “Wangfujing Station” or subway line 5 at “Dongdan Station”.

Wangfujing at dawn

Map of Wangfujing

Donglaishun Hotpot

Street Sculptures


Street Sculptures

The Oriental Plaza

Wangfujing Church