Beijing is a great place to shop, especially if you are looking for some handicrafts or unique souvenirs. There are many large shopping arcades with majority international branded fashion and perfumes. On the other hand, there are also shopping malls that sell only very local items including Chinese calligraphy, silks, ceramics, handicrafts as well as cultural stuffs. Make sure you haggle for a good price as the Chinese normally have well-honed bargaining skills.
Chinese Silk
Chinese silk is one of the significant outcomes from ancient civilization of China. The unique silk arts as well as the quality of the products have therefore enabled Chinese silk to be famous around the world. If you are interested to experience the comfort of silk, do remember to purchase some silk products such as neck tie, blouses, skirts, gown, or bed sheets during your visit to Beijing.
Jewelry/Precious Stones
China is a destination where produces precious stones especially jade. Although Beijing is not the origin place that produces precious stones, such as jade, crystal, agate, and emerald, as the capital of China and due to the culture of Chinese people, there are many precious stones processing factory here. You may take the opportunity to visit those kinds of factories and get yourself some gifts if you are interested in jewelry and precious stones.
Chinese Tea
The taste of Chinese tea is totally different when compared to western red tea. According to Chinese people, tea is very useful in promoting good health. For the old Chinese people especially, might drink Chinese tea only. Similar to Japanese Sado, there are special techniques and knowledge in preparing and drinking Chinese tea. Gift packing Chinese tea can be found at almost every tea shop. You may purchase some Chinese tea as souvenirs to your family or friends.
Chinese Medicine
There has been a very long history for medical development in China. People are taking Chinese herbs to cure all sickness since our ancestors and it is proved that Chinese medicine is able to cure certain disease without any side effect. Anyway, most of the Chinese medicine is used for health care. The famous Chinese medicine which is commonly bought by tourists is Ginseng. Tong Ren Tang is the oldest Chinese medicine shops. If you would like to purchase some Chinese medicine, you are suggested to purchase in a proper shop in order to avoid being deceived.
Calligraphy and Arts
Calligraphy and arts are part of Chinese culture which has been developed for thousands of years and still on going nowadays. Calligraphy is an art of writing Chinese character by using different sizes of brushes. Calligraphy product of a well-known calligrapher could reach millions of dollars. Similar to oil painting which is popular among western countries, Chinese people also has their national arts of painting. Their paintings are mostly about scenery, flowers, fish, horses or tigers which are painted by black ink and some added with other colors.
Ceramics
It has been thousands years of history regarding ceramic production in China. You can find the proof and witness the development of ceramic production in any museum here. Chinese people through out the history has possessed the technique of making ceramics from their ancestors and keep on improving and finally managed to leave us with plenty of ceramics antiques. Please be aware that Chinese antique over 150 years is not allowed to export.
