The Beijing Friendship Store is like a date you invite to family gatherings: it's reliable, well-groomed, and respectable, yet utterly boring. Years ago, this was the only place sanctioned to sell foreign goods, but with so many cheaper and more glamorous options now, this old mainstay has lost its allure. However, if the thought of bargaining in a loud, crowded market makes your head hurt, or if you're on a single-sweep shopping spree for goods of guaranteed quality, then the Friendship Store will be your haven. There's plenty of traditional Chinese goods and handicrafts, including tablecloths, silk and cashmere, porcelain, watercolor paintings, traditional Chinese medicine, teas, jade and gold jewelry, rugs (both silk and wool), and foreign groceries. And don't miss the bookstore, which stocks the International Herald Tribune and books on politics and contemporary literature.
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