Aside from eating, drinking and cavorting, shopping has to be a favored activity of many expats. There are miles of shiny marble-floored malls filled with couture boutiques that are filled with stylishly refined shelves in Beijing. As well, there are tourist traps – ala Panjiayuan or Houhai – filled with the ubiquitous little red books and other China tour paraphernalia. Overlooked by many expats however, are the places that thousands of Chinese people shop every day.
Beijing has a multitude of markets offering a cornucopia of wares from the downright cheap and practical to the beautiful, the bizarre and the kitsch. Beijing’s lesser known markets are colorful and chaotic places that many will just enjoy a visit to even if they are just window shopping.
Have you ever wondered where you can buy a Louis Vuitton patterned dust pan and brush, or a USB powered foot warmer? If so, then read on. In fact, read on anyway; you may just learn of a place that sells that item that you have been hunting for in Beijing for quite some time.
The market previously at Super Bar Street What’s on offer: Audio and visual equipment used mobile phones and computers, computer accessories, furniture, vintage clothes, all manner of strange gadgets and gizmos.
Since the much lamented demolition of Nuren Jie Super Bar Street, people have been at a loss when seeking out a number of items on their shopping list. Previously, visitors to the street’s two story indoor market were treated to a spread of all kinds of items ranging from somewhat sinister “self defense” devices (swords, baseball bats, brass knuckles), to downright wrong (Celine Dion records).
Luckily, much of the market that was housed in Super Bar Street has been relocated just a stone throw to a site behind the Sheraton Great Wall Hotel. People that enjoyed the somewhat dubious but cheap “used” cell phones, the stalls with all manner of vintage audio and visual equipment, CDs and vinyl records – yes that’s right, you can buy records in Beijing – second-hand laptop computers and all manner of accessories can still find these things at the new location.
The market really was a nerd’s paradise and much of its wares are still on offer. To entice females to the market, should they not be on the lookout for an original 1970’s Sony 12 track mixer or a telescopic sight for their hunting rifle, there are also vintage clothes stores.
Beijing 258 Electronic Market
Add: 10 Zaoying Nali, Maizidian, East 3rd Ring Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tel: 010 6500 3022, 5123 5688
How to get there: Take the Line 10 Subway to Liangmaqiao. Walk southeast until you pass the Great Wall Sheraton then take a left. Follow the road for approximately two blocks the electronics market will be on your right
