44 Best Shopping in Beijing, China

This is a must-visit shop for the rarest of Beijing souvenirs: something that you'll actually use when home. T-shirt designs capture the nostalgic days of Old Peking; posters, notebooks, thermoses, and other retro items take you back to the 1980s. It's fun and kitschy, and everything costs around Y100.

Once a delightfully chaotic sprawl of hundreds of outdoor stalls, the Silk Alley Market is now corralled inside a huge shopping center. The government has been cracking down on an increasing number of certain copycat items, so if you're after a knockoff Louis Vuitton purse or Chanel jacket, just ask; it might magically appear from a stack of plastic storage bins. You'll face no dearth, however, of fake Pumas and Nikes or Paul Smith polos. Chinese handicrafts and children's clothes are on the top floors. Bargain relentlessly, carefully check the quality of each intended purchase, and guard your wallet against pickpockets.

Collectors can spend hours perusing the quiet halls of this large antiques, jade, art and calligraphy market that's just under the South Fourth Ring Road, beside the Big Bell Temple Museum.

This little-known market, atmospherically set in the grounds of Baoguosi Temple, is a smaller, more manageable version of Panjiayuan. It sees very few foreigners, and no one will speak English, but armed with a calculator, stallholders will get their point across. As well as memorabilia from the Cultural Revolution, look out for stalls that sell original photos, ranging from early-20th-century snaps to people posing with their first TVs in the 1970s.

This complex has four stories of kitsch and curio shops and a few furniture stores, some of which may actually be selling authentic antiques. Prices are high (they are driven up by free-spending tour groups), so don't be afraid to lowball your offer. Ignore the overpriced duty-free shop at the entrance.

Run by historians, this small gallery near bustling Nanluoguxiang showcases a small collection of hundred-year-old Beijing maps and photos of the Drum and Bell Tower. As well as selling postcards, reprints, and calendars, the company also runs town walks and historical talks—some of the best you'll find in the city. Check the website for upcoming events as well as a list of other stores selling its products. To visit the gallery, email or phone for an appointment.

Since 1830, the Beijing Silk Shop has been supplying the city with bolts of quality silks and other fabrics. There are tailors on-site to whip up something special, as well as ready-to-wear clothing on sale.

Easily the most reliable DVD store in the city, this store has plenty of oldies as well as the usual "just released in cinemas" Hollywood blockbusters. Look for the "CD DVD Shop" sign out front—the stall is otherwise unlabeled. Because of the many pirated titles among its merchandise, the shop is occasionally raided by police (this isn't be too arduous for them, as it's only a 10-second walk from the nearest station). If that's happened recently, you'll find largely bare shelves with nothing but the odd black-and-white classic on display. Usually normal service is resumed pretty fast. DVDs start at Y10 each; box sets range from Y60 to Y500.

Buy Now (or Bainaohui) is home to hundreds of stalls selling laptops, PCs, iPods, speakers, phones, and just about any electonic malarkey you can imagine. Both real and knockoff goods tend to be mixed in with each other, so choose wisely. Some stall owners will bargain, others won't, but it's always worth a try.

Chinese-American fashion designer Candy Lin owns and operates this gem. From her peaceful and professional store, she designs for both men and women—her label has attracted a celebrity following, including Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas and Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou. Expect lots of sharp tailoring, stark colors, and relatively high prices.

Nothing embodies Beijing's lusty embrace of luxury goods quite like China World Mall, which is home to a giant branch of the Hong Kong designer emporium Joyce. The average spend here must run into millions of yuan. However, for smaller budgets, there are plenty of cafés and affordable restaurants; the cinema is decent, and there's also a good ice rink for kids. The mall is open every day, from 10 am to 9:30 pm.

For a wide selection of all types of fabrics, from worsted wools to sensuous silks, head to this shop. It's best to buy the material here and find a tailor elsewhere, as sewing standards can be shoddy.

Prices begin at steep and climb to positively perpendicular at this boutique. A visit here is key for anyone wanting to get under the skin of the local fashion scene. Its stock reads like a who's who of rising Chinese designers, with clothes by Vega Wang, He Yan, Manchit Au, and many more.

Fei Space more than holds its own against the other galleries in the 798 Art District, with a funky interior design and eclectic selection of clothes and housewares. Some of the fashion brands are unique to the store (including the first foray into China by Topshop and Topman), and all of them are uniformly stylish—and expensive. That includes the collection of jeans by Victoria Beckham.

He Yan's design philosophy is stated in her label: "bu yan bu yu" ("no talking"). Her linen and cotton tunics and collarless jackets speak for themselves. With their earth tones, aubergine hues, peacock patterns, He Yan's designs echo traditional Tibetan styles.

Hongqiao, or Pearl Market, is full of kitschy goods, knockoff handbags, and cheap watches, but it's best known for its namesake pearls. Freshwater, seawater, black, pink, white: the quantity is overwhelming, and quality varies by stall. Prices also range wildly, though the cheapest items are often fakes. Fanghua Pearls (4th floor, No. 4318) sells quality necklaces and earrings—with photos of Hillary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher shopping there to prove it—and has a second store devoted to fine jade and precious stones. Throughout the market, stallholders can be pushy; try to accept their haggling in the gamelike spirit it's intended. Or wear headphones and drown them out.

Located just on the edge of Dashanzi (798 Art District), this complex is one of the city's many impressive "super malls." Light, airy, and with a few new stores still not open, the malls houses brands that include the GAP, H&M, and Sephora as well as the Parisian Bread and Butter and homebred earthy fashion house JNBY; there is also a branch of the excellent Page One bookstore. The indoor garden isn't much to write home about, but a gigantic outdoor park area often hosts family-friendly events.

Sitting above Walmart in this mall are cameras, tripods, flash memory, phones, and MP3 players (called MP-San in Chinese). If you forgot the USB cable for your digital recorder or need extra camera batteries, this is the place. Bargain hard and you'll be rewarded.

Stylish and sensitive to Beijing's past, American designer Paul Gelinas and Chinese partner Xiao Miao salvage objects—whether they're chipped enamel street signs from a long-demolished hutong, a barbershop chair, or a 1950s Shanghai fan—and lovingly remove the dirt before offering them on sale in their treasure trove of a store. This branch is tucked down a tree-lined hutong where imperial exams once took place, and there's another a few doors down.

This enormous shopping complex originates at the southern end of Wangfujing, where it meets Chang'an Jie, and stretches a city block east to Dongdan Dajie. It's a true city within a city and certainly geared toward higher budgets. Some of the more upscale shops include Kenzo and Armani Exchange; ladies should check out the boutique from iconic Chinese-American designer Anna Sui for clothes, accessories, and makeup.

In Gulou, the only real currency is "vintage." Fresh-from-the-factory retro T-shirts have their place, but nothing can replace leafing through the racks at Mega Mega Vintage in search of gold. Distressed denim, classic tees, leather bags, and old-style dresses crown a collection that rises high above the "frumpery" peddled by countless copycat boutiques.

Spread over two floors, this newest addition to the popular Page One chain is huge, and when it opened, was open 24 hours a day. Soon, however, the realities of such an epic endeavor hit home (it's located on Bar Street), and normal business hours now apply. As the most comprehensive English language bookstore in the city, there's a little bit of everything here. The second floor has a large area dedicated to arty stationery, gadgets, and funky knickknacks, along with a large selection of children's titles and magazines in English. What isn't here? Many places to sit, so take your seat on a step on the wide staircase, along with the rest of the booklovers.

Every day the sun rises over thousands of pilgrims rummaging in search of antiques and curios, though you'll find the biggest numbers of buyers and sellers (all told, there are about 1,000 of them) turn up on weekends. It's a sure bet that not every jade bracelet, oracle bone, porcelain vase, and ancient screen sold here is authentic, but most shoppers come for the reproductions anyway. Behold the bounty: watercolors, scrolls, calligraphy, Buddhist statues, opera costumes, old Russian SLR cameras, curio cabinets, Tibetan jewelry, tiny satin lotus-flower shoes, rotary telephones, jade dragons, antique mirrors, and infinite displays of "Maomorabilia." If you're buying jade, first observe the Chinese customers, how they hold a flashlight to the milky-green stone to test its authenticity. As with all Chinese markets, bargain with a vengeance, as many vendors inflate their prices astronomically for waiguoren ("outside-country people").

A strip of enclosed stores forms a perimeter around the surprisingly orderly rows of open-air stalls. Check out photographer Xuesong Kang and his Da Kang store (No. 63--B) for some fascinating black-and-white snaps of Beijing city life, dating from the start of the 20th century up to the present day. Also be sure to stop by the Bei Zhong Bao Pearl Shop (甲-007) for medium-quality freshwater pearls cultivated by the Hu family. Also here are a sculpture zoo, a book bazaar, reproduction-furniture shops, and an area stashing propaganda posters and Communist literature. Stalls start packing up around 4:30 pm, so make sure to get there on the early side.

Scattered in and around this giant, green pyramid-shaped "biodome" is a boutique hotel, a mall that doubles as a walk-through gallery, and one of the largest private collection of Salvador Dalí works on display outside Spain. For shoppers, stores by designers Stella McCartney and Mulberry rub shoulders with the likes of the GAP; meanwhile a branch of the world-famous Taiwanese dumpling-slingers Din Tai Fung is always worth a visit. Even if designer knickknacks aren't your thing, stopping by just to gawk at the sheer grandiosity of it all comes highly recommended.

If you've always wanted to have shoes made just for you, this traditional cobbler is highly rated by Beijing expats. If you're in the city at least two weeks—you can have a pair of shoes or boots made for very reasonable prices. Bring in a photo or a pair that you wish to copy, as the cobbler doesn't speak much English.

Don't let the gray-brick and red-trim exterior fool you: The three stories of offices inside the Ritan Building are strung with racks of brand-name dresses and funky-fab accessories. Unlike the tacky variations made on knockoff labels and sold in less expensive markets, the collections here, for the most part, retain their integrity—perhaps because many of these dresses are actually designer labels. They're also more expensive, and bargaining is discouraged. The Ruby Cashmere Shop (No. 1009) sells genuine cashmere sweaters and scarves at reduced prices, while Fandini (No. 1011) carries a modern selection of typically "street" clothing for men and women.

If you're staying at one of the business hotels in Beijing's Financial Street area, this ritzy mall can fulfill any international luxury-brand needs you may have. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Versace are here, as is the Beijing branch of Hong Kong's fab department store, Lane Crawford.

Just east of the CBD, this sophisticated mall is a quiet, refined refuge—probably because the goods are too expensive for the masses; the luxury and mid-range brands include Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Agnès B, and Club Monaco. If you get peckish, there's an excellent dumpling eatery called Din Tai Fung.