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Wangfujing is now considered the central heart of the city. Certainly from Wangfujing all areas of Beijing are easily accessible. Wangfujing is a fairly long street. A walk from end to end would take you about 30 minutes, and that's without looking at any shops.
Wangfujing is the capital's well-known shopping street, now it becomes a pedestrian street, a window to show Beijing's modern life. It is worth strolling even if you aren't interested in buying anything.
Situated just a few blocks east of the Forbidden City, Wangfujing was a favorite residential neighborhood of the rich and the royals during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was named for the well that supplied the mansions of ten Ming Dynasty princes here. By the end of the 19th century, it was beginning to attract resident foreigners as well, including an influential correspondent for the London Times named Morrison, whose name became the street's as well for a time among Westerners. Tradesmen set up their shops on Wangfujing and the attached hutongs (alleys).
At night, when Wangfujing street turns on its ever increasing number of neon advertising signs, even more crowds flock to soak up the atmosphere. The neons can now be compared to those of any major city in the world and are very popular with the tourists, especially those coming from less developed parts of China. Most shops stay open till around 9pm and sometimes an impromptu night market .
Getting to Wangfujing is pretty easy. You can take the subway and get off at the Line 1 Wangfujing (118) station. Alternatively, you can of course take the taxi. Show the following to the driver:
王府井大街 |
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WangFuJing is a popular area with two very large shopping malls - one at each end of a pedestrianised street (WangFuJing Lu) that often hosts exhibitions and shows. WangFuJing has many outdoor cafes during the summer - a nice place to take an ice-cream or cold beer under a shady umbrella.
At the north end of WangFuJing there is SunDongAn Plaza, with an 'Old Beijing' street in the basement at the northern end. At the south end of WangFuJing is the glitzy Oriental Plaza that runs eastwards from the south end (between WangFuJing subway station and the huge WangFuJing bookstore).
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Wangfujing Street and its surroundings have quite a selection of shopping options. ; There are two western styles, modern malls. ; One has an English name written on it saying & ;Sun Dong An ;, which is confusing because its Chinese name is & ;Xin Dong An& ;. ; This one is the older of the two, situated on the center crossroads of Wangfujing Street, 12 minutes walk north of the subway station. ; It has 6 floors of shops and some pretty glass elevators. ; Here you can find fashion stores, souvenirs, cafes and restaurants, a cinema and a built-in large department store with some reasonably priced high-quality electronics.
The second of the two malls is near the subway and is called Oriental Plaza. ; This is a huge complex and one of the biggest malls in Asia. ; It has only 2 floors, but it stretches for a few city blocks. ; It is so big there are subway stations more or less at each end. ; It takes about 15 minutes to walk the length, if you are a quick walker. ; Oriental Plaza has many fashion stores, a lot of cafes and restaurants, a cinema, an Apple Computer center, VW Audi car showroom, Sony science exhibition center, banks and lots more.
Apart from the malls there are many large, tradional department stores, souvenir stores, and a side street with tradional Chinese food stalls. ; Wangfujing is not merely a shopping street but a whole experience. ; There are often large exhibitions and festivals held on the street.
Near Oriental Plaza there is one of the largest book stores in Beijing, the Wangfujing Book Store. This is 6 floors of books, mainly Chinese but has a large selection of Chinese literature translated into English. ; You can also find books for studying the Chinese language and some maps and guide books in English. ; Credit cards are accepted in the book store and many of the larger stores in both malls. |
Wangfujing Area, the largest commercial area in Beijing, extends from Dong Chang'an Avenue in the south to Wusi Street in the north, and from Dongdan Bei Street in the east to Nanheyan Street in the west. It occupies 1.65 square kilometers, extending 2 kilometers from south to north and 1000 meters from east to west. With many construction projects under way, its planned total commercial and office floor area and plus other buildings, is about 3.46 million square meters, of which 1.2 million square meters is taken by the business area and 0.9 million square meters occupied by underground and above-ground parking lots and other publicfacilities.
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Wang Fu Jing Avenue, or the "walking street", is lined with shops selling everything from women's fashions to eyeglasses and Chinese tea. There are several shopping centres like the Beijing Department Store, Sun Dong An Plaza, and Wang Fu Jing Department Store. Running parallel to Wang Fu Jing Avenue are Dong Dan Bei and Dong Si Nan Avenues, with a high concentration of small restaurants, shops and boutiques. Evening shoppers should not miss Dong An Men Avenue where a variety of street food-stalls sell everything from noodles to dumplings. If feeling brave, try the Deep-Fried Scorpion or Grasshopper.
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