Xidan Commercial Culture Museum opened on October 10. Documents and physical objects like the building of Xidan Department Store built by the staff of the department store, the first batch of “wanyuanhu”, literally “ten-thousand-yuan household”, which was a synonym for the rich in late 1970s, in Beijing, advertisements in the early Republican era, contracts of apprenticeship, and business licenses are presented to the audience to show the profound culture of Xidan in over 100 years.

The gate of Xidan Commercial Culture Museum [Photo/Qianlong]

It is also the first cultural museum with the theme of commercial integrity in Beijing. The theme “Running business with integrity in one-hundred-old Xidan” is determined by exploring the Xidan’s business culture of commercial integrity and collecting the historical data of Xidan’s hundreds of changes.

A replica of a tea counter at Xidan Commercial Culture Museum [Photo/Qianlong]

Located on the fifth floor of the south building of Xidan Department Store, Xidan Commercial Culture Museum covers a building area of over 500 square meters. It brings the development history of the commercial culture of Xidan back to life in an all-round way through tracing its commercial origins, plaque culture, and historical inheritance. The museum consists of five sections, namely, Preface hall, Impression of Xidan, Developing Xidan, Fashionable Xidan and Multifunctional exchange zone.

The “Impression of Xidan” hall features the history of Xidan from the late Qing Dynasty to before the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The commercial culture of Xidan including its history, origin, rudiment, plaque culture, and business integrity is reflected by tickets, pan scales and display boards.

Source: english.qianlong.com