Located in the heart of Wangfujing, the bookstore has been a mainstay of foreigners in Beijing for many years. It sells books on Chinese art, history, literature, language, medicine, economics, travel, Western novels, and postcards, all in English. It also has a selection of books in French, Spanish, Japanese and Russian, and an extensive selection of English as a Foreign Language materials. The fourth floor is given over to music and DVDs, both Chinese and imported.

It is the biggest foreign language bookstore in Beijing. The Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore carries plenty of contemporary fiction and nonfiction, as well as a smattering of classics, mostly in English. They also stock a full range of English-language travel guides. Clerks speak decent English and are able to help you with international orders.

Interesting to note that 98% of the store's books on contemporary China, both fiction and non-fiction, are written by non-Chinese authors such as Amy Tan and Lisa See. Especially ironic considering that the world's largest publisher of such books in English, Panda Books and its associated imprints, is located just a few blocks away.

“Franz Fannon is right, again--how the oppressed is so good at duplicating the acts of cultural genocide practiced by the colonialists.” Just step out of the bookstore and look down the street at how the colonial view of 1920s Peking is romanticized and celebrated in the bronze statues.

Chinese Name: 北京市外文书店

Address: 235 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District, Beijing

地址: 北京市东城区王府井大街235号

Contact: 010 6512 6903

E-mail: bxwjsjb@126.com

Hours: 09:30 - 21:30

Website: http://www.bpiec.com.cn/Ee/index-e.asp