Where to buy everything

All the pearls, silk, antiques, fakes, clothes – and tea – in China

Despite the abundance of 'Fendy' bags and 'Nike Air Nax' in China, one of the best things about shopping in Beijing is the markets. Whether you want to buy jeans, Tibetan Buddhas, orchids or a bright orange pashmina, it's hard not to have fun when you get so much for your moolah and a bit of humorous banter with the sales assistant is par for the course. In fact, everything from edible dried seahorses to Chinese Opera masks and bespoke handmade earrings can be found somewhere in Beijing if you know where to look, and a plethora of quirky boutiques abound on some of the city's less frequented streets and in the hutongs.

Though the majority of the Western world associates China with mass production, one of the most refreshing things about shopping in the capital is the sheer range and singularity of most items. In fact, you'll never see two women with the same bag or pair of shoes. If you're willing to overlook the odd tacky sequined cardigan or Chinglish sloganed T-shirt, you'll be shocked at how cheap and funky some of the gear can be. The key things to remember: bargain for everything and carry cash - outside of the department stores, credit cards are rarely accepted. It's also highly unlikely you'll be given a receipt – a right you give up when you pay 65RMB for a winter coat. Nevertheless, if you are unhappy with anything, the quicker you take it back the more likely the shop assistant is to remember you and fix or replace any damaged goods.

If you're a small or medium at home you'll often be a large or XXL in Beijing. In some cases, particularly with shoes, you may find that nothing fits you. But that's where Beijing’s legion of expert tailors and cobblers comes in, ready to fashion a copy of your favourite suit or shoes for a fraction of the price.

It's also worth bearing in mind that sales items are marked differently here, showing the percentage of the price you pay, not the percentage of the discount.

Shopping areas

Compared to most cities, Beijing isn't particularly ‘joined up’, meaning there are few places you can just go for a stroll and discover great little shop after great little shop. The best option is to decide what sort of thing you’re after before setting out. Finding international or designer brands is simplest, because all of them can be found inside the more exclusive hotels or in one of the two major shopping malls in Beijing – the China World Shopping Mall (or Guomao, as it’s known to local); and the Oriental Plaza in Wangfujing. Thanks to a historic reputation as the place to buy quality goods close to the Palace during imperial times, Wangfujing has gradually developed into the city’s main shopping street.

Walking distance further west is Xidan, a shopping district popular with locals and young people in particular, who head straight to the underground 77th Street Plaza for a mix of funky threads and kitsch Chinese toys. For a similar selection of clothes, accessories and fun finds but in a more relaxed and cool setting, head to Dongsi Bei Dajie. This road, located just east of the centre, is lined with one-off boutiques and is definitely worth exploring for a couple of hours. For ethnic chic and traditional Chinese arts and crafts, the myriad shops scattered around the periphery of Houhai Lake won’t disappoint.

For a more modern shopping experience, the Jianwai Soho development opposite the China World Trade Centre has a vast but slightly uneven selection of shops. The relatively recent retail boom in the Lido area means it's also now worth a visit, especially if you’re on your way to or from Dashanzi's 798 Art District. Catering to the large number of expats in the area and dominated by the shops in and around the Holiday Inn Lido hotel, several unique designer-product outlets have sprung up including the wonderful Spin, Jia Na Ma Ni and Kang Deco.

One area that's been around a while and is currently undergoing a mega revamp is Sanlitun. Dozens of shops can be found here if you venture off the bar street, including Yashow Market, the 3.3 Fashion Mall, Nali Mall and Tongli Studios. In 2005 residential buildings were cleared to make way for ‘New Sanlitun’, a major development that’s supposed to be Beijing’s answer to Covent Garden, housing high-end shops, businesses and even a hotel. Due for completion at any time, the whole city is holding its breath. Well, sort of...

One-stop shopping

It's all very well laughing at the shop claiming to stock Pierre Cardin goods but filled with a strange mishmash of oven mitts and cuddly toys (absolutely true), but if you want the real thing you'll have to head to one of Beijing's many malls. These air conditioned behemoths are currently multiplying out of control in the capital. It's still quite a big event when a mall introduces a new brand to the city, which was why Chinese and foreign women alike swooned over the new bi-level Zara that opened in The Place at the beginning of 2007. The most recently opened include the excellent Gate City Mall in Zhongguancun (excellent because the area, up in the north-west, had nothing like it until recently); the manageably sized Ginza Mall on Dongzhimenwai; and the Wangjing Mall set at the boulevard-like crossroads of Guangshun Bei Dajie.

Those set to hit Beijing in the near future include the aforementioned New Sanlitun, the Wanda Plaza and SOM-designed Gemdale Plaza near Guomao, and the Legation Quarter – an exciting series of high-end restaurants and shops set in a cluster of buildings that served as the American Embassy compound during the Qing dynasty.

Antiques

Due to the sheer number of reproductions masquerading as genuine on the market these days, it’s foolish to buy antiques in Beijing without first obtaining some serious know-how. Nevertheless, repros aren’t necessarily a bad thing, so long as you know that’s what you’re buying, and a lot of market sellers are honest about the age of their wares. Relatively modern curios like Mao's Little Red Book or Mao buttons or badges will probably be real, because so many millions were made. Whatever you buy, make sure you have a stamp of authentification to show that your antique is legal for export. Anything over 200 years old cannot be taken out of the country.

Panjiayuan Market has a good selection of genuine antiques mingling with the fakes, you just have to find them; but the most famous area for antiques is Liulichang, a street with an interesting history. Alongside an overwhelming amount of colourless tat, there are thousands of old books (particularly in the western half), along with an abundance of ink slabs, statues, vases, paintings and other treasures. Try Ru Gu Zhai (54 Liulichang East, Xuanwu, South, 8316 8676, 9am-6pm daily) for honest service and a plethora of old drawings and calligraphy collected by knowledgeable owner Liu Guo Chu.

Arts & handicrafts

With thousands of years of history and 55 ethnic minority cultures, China is home to an enormously broad range of traditional clothes, arts and crafts. For outfits and embroidery from China's Miao Minority, as well as Tibetan statues and Beijing Opera masks, the best place is still Panjiayuan Market. However, for a more modern take on Chinese arts and culture, the following shops offer a decent selection.

Books, movies & music

Obtaining quality books, movies or music in a country where censorship and piracy prevail can sometimes be tricky, but a growing number of shops run by owners who know what the people want are helping to combat that.

The Wangfujing Bookstore (218 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng (tel 6525 2592), is a good starting place for Chinese books. Most high-end hotels sell the main international magazines.

Electronics

Contrary to popular belief, it's not actually that much cheaper to buy electronic goods in China than it is in the West. Nevertheless, prices have come down considerably in recent years, thanks to a multitude of good-quality local brands, and you can buy MP3 and DVD players to rival any of those made by international companies for a fraction of the price. Buying things like games consoles or Apple computers should probably be given a miss. Be prepared to bargain very aggressively to make it worth your while.

A bit bewildering, but ultimately the best place in Beijing to buy the full range of electronic goods, this massive electronics market in the city's north-west is an experience in itself. Be sure to play the vendors off against each other to get the price as low as possible; you'll need to bargain hard if you don't want to leave feeling disappointed.

Fashion

Refreshingly, China is no slave to Western catwalk fashion and neither is it a huge follower of home-grown trends. After all, if you were just one of 1.3 billion people, would you want to ape the latest style that everyone else is wearing, or might you try for something a little more different? The result is a wondrous mishmash of clothes, some decidedly dodgy, others not. For a collection of funky clothes, shoes and belts made in Beijing or imported from other Asian countries, try Beijing's Nali Mall (Sanlitun Beijie, next door to Alameda restaurant– not so much a mall as a bazaar-like collection of indoor shops hidden just off Sanlitun Bar Street – and head to Zin (the first shop on your left, 6417 3030, 11am-9.30pm Mon-Thur, Sun, 10am-10pm Fri, Sat). Similarly cool is the Ritan Office Building (15A Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang district, (tel 8561 9559), 10am-8pm daily) with its great selection of boutiques selling singular, mostly trendy threads.

For excellent quality cheap brand name clothes, Select inside the Lido Hotel shopping arcade (Lido Place, 6 Jiangtai Lu, Chaoyang district, (tel 6430 1005) sells Havaiana flip flops, Ralph Lauren shirt dresses and the like, and Hot Station Factory Outlet (104B, car park level, Building 5, Jianwai SOHO, Chaoyang district, (tel 5869 2969), 10am-10pm daily) offers everything from men's Replay parkas to Calvin Klein dressing gowns. Designer fashion can be found in either the Oriental Plaza Mall, Guomao or the Peninsula Beijing Hotel's shopping arcade which houses over 50 brands including Wolford, Versace and Chanel.

Fashion accessories & services

Women have been known to turn into magpies when visiting Beijing, finding themselves inexplicably drawn to market stalls dripping with red coral beads, pearls, jade and silver. Of course everything in Beijing that glitters is not gold, but at these prices who really cares? Head to the markets first – in particular Panjiayuan and Liulichang for things like beads, coral and jade, or Yashow (we suggest you try the helpful Cindy on stall 4014) and the Silk Market where you'll find row upon row of stalls selling hairpins, bracelets, cufflinks, necklaces, earrings and other accessories. This is also the location of the majority of Tiffany, Bulgari and Cartier copies. For pearls, make a beeline for the Pearl Market and have a gander at well-established Fanghua Pearls (Shop 4318, (tel 6718 7888; www.fanghua.com) 9am-8pm daily) where you're guaranteed to find the genuine goods. For young, funky jewellery, the shops inside the Nali Mall can't be beaten.

It's also worth noting that, particularly outside the clothing markets, Tibetans still tout their wares on the footbridges and pavements, and if you turn a blind eye to the deer feet and wolf skin rugs, their jewellery is often a lot cheaper and more authentic than that sold inside.

Buying shoes can prove difficult in Beijing since Chinese women usually have tiny feet. Most markets sell shoes but only really up to a European size 38 for women or 44 for men. Ask for anything bigger than that and you'll be met with a snort from vendors who will shake their heads in horror at your monstrous feet. Don't be offended. Instead head to the malls for brands stocking a greater number of Western sizes (Nine West, Aldo, Zara) or consider splashing out on a pair of custom-made shoes or boots from one of the city's cobblers.

Food & drink

For an on-the-go taste of Beijing's more unusual foods, the Donghuamen Night Market (Metro Wangfujing, 4-10pm daily) should be your first stop. Selling everything from noodles to banana fritters and scorpions, traditional snacks abound – the biggest challenge is daring yourself to eat them. Beijing' wet markets are naturally the best place to buy fresh goods, and the basement of Hongqiao Market is famous for its fish from all over the world as well as its stalls selling fruit and vegetables. It's also fun to browse the shops and carts selling dried fruit, nuts and other Muslim food around the Niujie Mosque in Qianmen, where dates come from Iran and kebabs are cooked by boys from Xinjiang.

For Western food, and in particular pâtisseries and delis, Gourmet Corner (China World West Tower, next to HSBC, 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang district, (tel 6505 2266) sells delicious lunchtime snacks and salads as well as chocolates, bread and pastries; and the Kempi Deli (1F Kempinski Hotel, Chaoyang district,(tel  6465 3388 ext 5741), 7am-10pm daily) has a selection of baguettes, cakes and Illy coffee.

Gifts & interiors

Always start at the markets for the best range of cheap, antique or unusual gifts and interior decoration items. Panjiayuan and Gaobeidian are two of the best and are where you'll find decorated wooden chests, screens, stools, magazine holders, lanterns and jewellery boxes, among other things.

Health & beauty

All Watsons supermarkets stock a good selection of Western branded beauty and personal care products, as do all Chinese department stores. The selection isn't bad, though the abundance of whitening products makes finding anything in a regular shade difficult – who needs whitening deodorant for crying out loud?

Health stores & pharmacies

There are hundreds of pharmacies and health stores dotted around Beijing. For a 24-hour pharmacy, the Beijing Vista Clinic (B29, The Kerry Centre, 1 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang district, (tel 8529 6618) inside the Kerry Centre can prescribe you what you need quickly and cheaply, and is guaranteed to be of sound quality – something that's important in the land of the fake.

Sports & outdoor gear

Most malls have a mini sports department store within, usually noticeable by its running track floor. Sport 100 (8518 6740, 10am-9.30pm daily) inside the Oriental Plaza is one example, and carries brands like Reebok, Adidas, Converse and homegrown footwear labels Double Star and Anta. Malls also often have Nike 360*, Puma and Adidas boutiques but, to no one's surprise, places like the Silk Market push knock-offs of all of them.

Sarah Keenlyside