With slick new malls opening all over the city, Beijing definitely is a shopper’s stop. But one street in particular is right next to some of Beijing’s most famous hotels, and it keeps the style of the old.
Suppose you want to shop somewhere with a little history, somewhere where you can get lost in antiques and traditional Chinese art forms. History for Beijing’s liulichang street traces back to the early Ming dynasty in the 16th century, and there is no shortage of unique Chinese gifts here.
For hundreds of years, the street remained one of Beijing’s busiest shopping venues. Today people tread this very street for unique Chinese gifts, including antiques, brush paintings, calligraphies, tea sets, shadow puppets, old books, and a variety of ethnic items.
For unique Chinese gifts to bring back, this is just the place for you!
Here are some of the shops:
Pin Hu Tang – A Good Cup of Tea Made Easy
This quaint shop at the west end of Liulichang Street is where big-time tea lovers go for authentic Yixing purple clay teapots. It’s not far from the Haige International Hotel.
Yixing teapots are said to be able to improve your tea by allowing tea aromas to build up right in the walls of the pot. The secret lies in the special material they use for the pots: Yixing purple clay, which is porous and absorbent.
The clay is unique to Yixing, and the shop carries a large collection of purple clay teapots they made themselves. The owner himself is a well-know teapot maker in Beijing.
The designs of their teapots are pretty unique. There you will find shapes imitating pumpkins, gourds, stumps, and castles, to name a few. And you will find skillful engravings on these teapots: a scene showing harmony between man and nature, a quotation from an ancient love poem, or an auspicious animal mounting the lid to entertain your eyes…
These really are things you won’t find in your back home! No wonder foreign tourists would like to visit and spend some travel dollars here.
Gu Miao Hua Yuan –- Pristine Beauty of Flowers Live On Your Walls
This interesting little shop is tucked away in a 600-year-old building and offers exceptional Chinese flower paintings that have found their way into the homes of many Beijingers. It is just a short cab ride from Hwa Apratment Hotel.
There you’ll find paintings of plums, orchids, chrysanthemum, and bamboo; all skillfully done by our master – Mr. Xie.
Mr. Xie is the shop owner. Specializing in painting a range of flowers, he is the best at painting peonies, which are his life-long love. To create on paper peonies that are true to life, our master painter has spent ten years observing the flower.
That’s an accomplishment that few can achieve!
At your request, Mr. Xie frames his works, or mounts it on a scroll so it can be easily carried.
Qing Ci Lan Ting – A Lovely Touch To Your Home
This interesting little shop with an old-fashioned façade carries a large collection of celadon products made in Longquan, a southern Chinese town knows as the hometown of celadon.
In the shop you will find a nice selection of celadon products with designs that are seldom seen outside of China. For example, a bowl is engraved with a pair of fish that are unique to a small river in Longquan. Another teapot is in the shape of a river snail. It is very likely that you wouldn’t recognize it at first sight!
Actually, everyone will find something fitting in their own home: a hat-shaped vase for holding flowers, a pumpkin-style jar for storing CDs, and a lotus leaf platter for holding food, to name a few.
Some products bear cracks. They are the result of an ancient technique. New cracks keep showing up ever since a celadon ware is made, but the ware won’t break into pieces as the glaze holds it into one piece. The cracks only add up to a more gorgeous looking item.
Anyone who comes in will be served a cup of tea for free. The manager is a young, nice lady. She is quite knowledgeable in celadon, and would like share her knowledge with her customers.
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