Shopping in Beijing

There are plenty of shopping places in Beijing now—ranging from souvenirs, rip-off designer wares, pirate dvds, fake Chinese antiques, reasonably priced electronics and more. One must be cautioned of the lack of standards and the no return policy in almost 98% of stores. Since the 2008 Olympics, Credit cards are now widely accepted.

Here are the main shopping areas...

Wangfujing Street. Lots of different stores mostly selling souvenirs. Prices not too bad. If you dig around some things can be found cheaper.

Xidan Area. Many large department stores selling good brand fixed price goods including electronic equipment like DVD players. Credit cards widely accepted for electronics and expensive items. Other malls selling cheap clothing with bargaining.

Xiu Shui Jie Shopping Mall/Siu Shui Market. Market-style shopping mall for tourists selling all kinds of clothing, bags, replica designer labels etc. All prices are negotiable so good bargaining skills are essential.

Hong Qiao Market. Located in the south central area of Beijing, this indoor market is popular with foreign students. It is a good source of extremely cheap no-name or fake brand electronics, sunglasses, batteries, watches etc. Bargaining also required.

Things to do and see in Beijing: Night Life in Beijing

Beijing Nightlife Review

Sanlitun Entartainment District used to be the place to be if you wanted to go to a bar. Many many bars, most open till 4am or later and are oozing with certain Beijing feel. Frequented by many foreign customers so you will not feel too out of place. Hou Hai Bar Area, however, has recently taking over the popularity of Sanlintun as the major bar hopping place in Beijing. It is situated around a man-made lake at the north of Beihai Park. Boating is available on the lake till 11pm or 12am in the summer.

I recommend Club Banana for a full Beijing Disco experience. Cute girls, bad girls, shady guys, sound loud enough to make you deaf. It’s a place to be seen, the best and most popular venue in Beijing. If you're looking for a beautifully decked out typical Asian disco experience with a tremendous, fun, atmosphere, look no further. Especially great on Friday and Saturday nights.
Visit Party World for a Beijing Karaoke experience. It hosts a massive chain. Looks more like a 5-Star Hotel than a Karaoke. This place has FREE FOOD!! a lot of the time, and is open 24 hours ! Used to be called Cash Box.

Beijing is one of the few remaining places to still have good variety shows many are included with the price of admission, or even completely free as long as you're drinking/eating something. Check out Success, a very Chinese place near Sanlitun Bar Street. It offers floor shows from 10pm to 12am most days.

Dancing girls, singing guys and girls. Cool place. Not many foreign visitors. The House is also an interesting place in the Wangfujing area used to be a girly bar, but now has a pricy entry fee and includes an all-evening floor show. Dancers, singers, models, comedy, sometimes magic! Male audience targeted.