Antiques and Arts Markets in Beijing top the nation in scale, quantity and quality. They offer opportunities for visitors to trace back to the 5,000 years of Chinese history and subtle evolution of Chinese culture.
Panjiayuan Antique Market
Known locally as the Dirt Market (or Sunday Market), Panjiayuan Antique Market is the place for antiques, arts and crafts and old-style furniture. A fascinating once-in-a-lifetime shopping opportunity, and don’t forget to haggle! Authentic, dusty, filled with curios, humorous local characters and people from everywhere in China, bustle and noise! Keep a close watch on your personal belongings as it can be pretty crowded.
ADD: 18 Huaweili, Panjiayuan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Liulichang Cultural Street
Liulichang Cultural Street is Beijing’s best-known and most historic cultural street, and is also a good place to find antiques and collectibles. Here you can find old Chinese books, traditional paintings and brushes; the best place to get your own unique and personalized seal, with your name or your Chinese name if you like.
ADD: Hepingmenwai, Xicheng District, Beijing.
Beijing Curio City
The Beijing Curio City, Asia’s biggest curio arts and crafts trade centre, is a complex that houses scores of kitsch and curio shops and a few furniture vendors. The market specializes in antique pottery, paintings from China and other countries, bone carvings, antique furniture, antique carpets, antique timepieces, pearls and jade. Many of the dealers are themselves connoisseurs and curio collectors.
ADD: 21 South Dong Sanhuan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Gaobeidian Classic Furniture Market
The Gaobeidian Classic Furniture Market is Beijing’s largest antique and imitative Chinese furniture market. Old furniture collected from Shanxi and Hebei provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region can be found here. Take a close look at the replicas: their quality will surprise you and save you money.
ADD: Gaobeidian Cun, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
The following markets are also the good places to go.
Baoguosi Antique Market
ADD: 1 Baoguosi, Guang’anmenwai Dajie, Xicheng District, Beijing.
Wangfujing Gongmei Emporium
ADD: Wangfujing Shopping Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing.
Friendship Store
ADD: 17 Jianguomengwai Dajie, Chaoyang District, Beijing.