China Travel Forum

[Jasper]

Hi everyone,
I am going to Beijing and Xi'an later this year and i have read a lot about the Silk Alley and Liulichang Street and I would like to know if these are worth fitting into a tightly packed schedual.
Have any other travellers visited these shopping areas and what kind of gifts/souvenirs did you buy?

I would be grateful for any information, thanks.

[Owen]

I was in Beijing and Xian last August and had a great time. Silk Alley is fantastic and a great place to shop for clothes, bags, watches, and other nice things. Bargain hard - start very low and listen to what others are buying things for. If the trader just won't accept your last price and lets you walk away you know that you have reached their lowest limit. So try at another stall and go a little higher. The last I heard was that Silk Alley was being moved into a building and no longer in the open air.
I visited Liulichang Street but was not greatly impressed and the traders are much harder to barter with and get a good deal. It certainly had many shops and alot of socalled antiques. The prices are still much cheaper than in Australia or other western countries.

In Xian there are great shopping laneways next to and leading into the Mosque near the Drum Tower. There is also a great calligraphy and stalls near the City Wall in walking distance north of the Bell Tower.