Fodor's Expert Review Ruifuxiang Silk Shop
Xicheng District
Store/Mall
Established in 1893, this shop has thick bolts of silk, cotton, cashmere, and wool piled high, in more colors than you'll find in a box of crayons: chartreuse, candy-pink, chocolate-brown, fresh-cut-grass-green—you name it. Clerks deftly cut yards of cloth while tailors take measurements for colorful qipaos (traditional gowns). Even though you might not be shopping for fabric, in this corner of Beijing, life seems to continue much as it did a century ago.