The best places for shopping in Beijing

With the explosion of online shopping in China, Beijing’s bricks-and-mortar stores are working extra hard to wow customers. You can find just about everything in China’s vibrant capital, from large shopping malls filled with contemporary and luxury brands to Instagram-worthy boutique stores selling one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted products. Here are some of the best and most unique retail experiences awaiting you on the streets of Beijing. 

1. To Summer

Known as Guan Xia in Chinese, this much sought-after fragrance and aromatherapy brand launched in Beijing in 2018. A year later saw the opening of its Beijing flagship store, occupying a traditional siheyuan (courtyard house) a few doors down from the Confucius Temple. Inside the serene white-walled space, you’ll find Chinese-inspired products designed to bring aromatic calm into the home – think room diffusers, incense sticks, bath oils and candles, all crafted using organic ingredients like osmanthus flowers and peach blossom. 

2. Caicifang Porcelain Workshop

This one-of-a-kind boutique in Beijing’s historic Dashilar neighbourhood takes salvaged shards of smashed Qing-dynasty porcelain and upcycles them into unique ornaments, jewellery, and wall art. Prices are reasonable, with the cheapest pieces selling for around ¥50, (around HK$57) and each one tells a story. The shop expanded in 2022 and now also hosts arts and crafts exhibitions. 

3. Page One Bookstore, Beijing Fun 

A strong contender for the title of China’s most stunning bookstore, the Beijing branch of Singaporean chain Page One features towering bookshelves that rise between floors, and the capital’s best collection of books on art and design. You can find it in Beijing Fun, a 2019 open-air retail development just south of Tiananmen Square. Head up to the third floor for views of Zhengyangmen, a mighty arrow tower that once guarded the main gate to the city. 

4. UCCA Store

Attached to the UCCA gallery, this stylish emporium is a must-visit when exploring the old factory workshops-turned exhibition spaces of Beijing’s iconic 798 Art District. Look out for limited edition signed prints and products designed in collaboration with exhibiting artists. For more affordable options, you can browse merch like art books, posters, tote bags and T-shirts, as well as unique homewares and apparel created by the gallery’s own label to celebrate particular artists.

5. Yonganlu Department Store 

This whimsical shop, hidden between identikit apartment blocks close to the Temple of Heaven, is well worth seeking out for a slice of yesteryear Beijing. Among the cluttered shelves you’ll find all manner of retro goods, including the padded winter clothing loved by elderly Beijing residents, traditional Beijing-branded cosmetics, sturdy cast-iron woks and vintage-style enamel mixing bowls, all at bargain prices. Most delightfully of all, the staff still use abacuses to add up your purchases. 

6. Three Stone Kite Shop

Kites were invented in China over 2,000 years ago, and even as recently as the early 1900s the Forbidden City in Beijing employed a master kite maker. The owner of this tiny shop close to Houhai Lake carries on the craftsmanship of his great-grandfather, who he claims made kites for the emperor during the late Qing dynasty. You’ll be able to see colourful, hand-made kites fashioned in the shape of birds, dragons and phoenixes, and all of them fly – even the tiny ones – while also making decorative wall hangings.

7. Panjiayuan Market

A Beijing institution, you could wander the aisles for hours at this vast, magpie’s nest of a market – just a short walk from Panjiayuan metro station – and barely see half its stalls. Most of the antiques for sale are replicas (despite what the stall holders may claim), but dig a little and you’ll find well-thumbed originals of Mao’s Little Red Book, retro cigarette advertisements emblazoned with ladies in elegant qipao dresses, and all manner of Chinese handicrafts. The rarest items are said to be snapped up as soon as the markets opens, which is well before dawn on weekends.

8. Parkview Green 

It’s not so much the shops that make this mall special (despite the choice selection of global and Chinese brands), but the intriguing art pieces that fill the public areas. Where else can you find a herd of cows suspended over a raised walkway that leads to a Spielberg-sized shark with gaping jaws? It makes shopping way more fun when you can get up close to playful sculptures like Korean artist Seung-Koo Lee’s bull-terriers, or pop into the adjoining hotel to see original works by Dali and Warhol.  

9. Beijing Postcards

For a fascinating foray into Beijing’s past, seek out this tastefully designed store on one of Dashilar’s newly revived hutong lanes. As well as postcards, the shop sells old city maps, framed black and white prints of early 20th century Beijing and quirky souvenirs like tea-towels emblazoned with old Beijing shop signs. You can even sign up for historical walking tours that depart from the shop and delve into nearby alleyways once home to opium dens and brothels. Check the website for upcoming events. 

10. Sheng Xi Fu Hat Store

Founded in 1911, this hat maker on Wangfujing Street (one of Beijing’s most iconic shopping streets) soon gained recognition for the high quality and elegance of its formal hats, both in Chinese and Western styles. Whether you’re in the market for a Panama, a trilby or a fur-lined Russian ushanka, Sheng Xi Fu has the hat for you. It’s also the place to pick up those simple cloth caps favoured by elderly Beijingers.