Beijing Shopping and Districts

(Beijing, China)

Numerous Chinese shopping districts are spread all over the vast city of Beijing and offer more than you could possibly desire. A spot of retail therapy is a great way to spend your day in Beijing and the main shopping districts can be found around Xidan, Wangfujing Dalie, Qianmen and Dashilar.

Stretching from the Front Gate and close to the landmark on Tiananmen Square, Beijing's Dashilar shopping district contains an especially diverse mixture of outlets, including silk shops, large department stores, herbal specialists, clothing stores and food shops, amongst others.


Other prominent shopping districts in Beijing include the rather affluent areas of Sanlitun and Jianguomenwai, where vast shopping malls and open-air markets can all be found. The Liulichang district of Beijing is known for its specialist shopping and contains a huge selection of antique stores close to Dashilar, although do be careful when shopping here as many of the so-called antiques are fake and not as they seem.

When to Shop and Opening Hours

Typically Chinese, shopping hours in Beijing are long and most shops in the city are open between 09:00 to 21:00, or 10:00 to 22:00, Monday to Sunday. This means that you can virtually shop whenever you want, with vast department stores, shopping centres and their food courts all often busy during the evenings, from 17:00 to 18:00 onwards, as office workers finish their day. However, some shopping centres do open between 08:30 to 09:00, closing as early as 17:00 or 17:30, such as the Oriental Plaza off Dong Chang An Jie.

Where to Shop

A particularly memorable shopping experience for those visiting Beijing is the Panjiayuán Market, off Dongsanhuan Nanlu, which also goes by the name of the Dirt Market or the Sunday Market. Open at the weekends, this is a huge market where you will find arts and crafts, antiquities, many treasures and a host of collectibles, attracting in excess of 50,000 visitors. Shopping at Beijing's outstanding Xiushui Silk Market on the Jianguomenwai Dajie is also not to be missed and is located in close proximity to the famous Friendship Store.

Of course, for some serious shopping in Beijing, you will need to visit some of the many enormous, modern shopping malls. With a wealth of impressive anchor stores, spacious food courts and modern amenities, the most popular are listed below.

Beijing Henderson Shopping Centre - 18 Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue, Dong Cheng, Beijing, 100004, China, CN

Beijing New World Centre - 3 Chongwenmen Wai, Chong Wen, Beijing, 100062, China, CN

China World Center - 1 Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue, Chao Yang, Beijing, 100004, China, CN

COFCO Plaza - 8 Jian Guo Men Nei Avenue, Dong Chen, Beijing, 100005, China, CN

Da Zha Lan Alley Shopping District - Da Zha Lan Alley, Qian Men Avenue, Xuan Wu, Beijing, 100051, China, CN

Full Link Plaza - 18 Chao Yang Men Wai Avenue, Chao Yang, Beijing, 100020, China, CN

Jian International Plaza - Chao Yang Men Wai, Chao Yang, Beijing, 100020, China, CN

Oriental Plaza - 10 Dong Chang An Jie, Dong Cheng, Beijing, 100006, China, CN

Palace Hotel Shopping Arcade - 8 Goldfish Lane, Dong Cheng, Beijing, 100006, China, CN

SOHO New Town - 88 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang, Beijing, 100022, China, CN

Sun Dong An Plaza - 138 Wangfujing Avenue, Dongcheng, Beijing, 100006, China, CN

Xi Dan Shopping District - Chang An West Avenue / Xi Dan Avenue, Beijing, 100031, China, CN

Xidan Cultural Square - 180 Xi Dan North Avenue, Xi Cheng, Beijing, 100031, China, CN