Antique Markets near Panjiayuan house perhaps China's largest collection of treasures. Here you will find calligraphy and paintings, jade works, bronze wares, porcelain, furniture, antiquarian books, folk jewelry, and other old items. All saturated with Chinese culture. Foreign and domestic visitors alike congregate here for a 'treasure hunt'. With several high grade hotels nearby, Panjiayuan area has become hot spot for foreign travelers to visit and accommodate.
This walk will bring you a route starting from the Henan Plaza, and then we will pass through four antique markets to get a picture of the oriental goldmines.
Huapu Supermarket
Stepping out of the Henan Plaza and turning left, a yellow-colored wall will catch your eyes. It is Huapu Supermarket, a popular Beijing supermarket chain. You could go there to buy inexpensive staples and make contact with locals.
Apartment Buildings near Henan Plaza
From Henan Plaza entrance, turn right. You will see tall apartment buildings with lawns and trees. This community looks clean and agreeable to live in. The Beijing Municipal Government has implemented a series of housing plans to improve the living conditions of city dwellers. This area has benefited from those plans.
The Red House Bar
About 150 meters away, the Red House Bar stands on your right. This bar serves cocktails, beers, wines, fruit juices, coffee and Chinese tea. It is a good place to relax, and listen to music, make friends, or even hold a party. Its hours of operation are 2:00 pm ~ 2:00 am. The telephone number is 010-51670091
Zhonggushang Int'l Collectors Club & Panjiayuan Treasure Gallery
At the east end of Huaweili, you arrive at Dongsanhuan Nanlu (this is the name of this street). Turning left, stepping northward along the avenue and you will see on your left side a six-storey building with a plaque indicating ¡°Collectors Club International¡±. This is home to the Zhonggushang International Collectors Club and the Panjiayuan Treasure Gallery.
The fifth and sixth floors open for members¡¯ business negotiations. While Panjiayuan Treasure Gallery occupies the basement floor to the fourth floor, and their exhibits include ceramics, jade objects, Chinese paintings and calligraphic works. You could find two rare pieces of fish fossil dating back to 130 million years ago. It opens from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Panjiayuan Collection Market
Let's return to the east end of Huaweili, but this time, we will walk southwards. Soon you will see on your right side the Panjiayuan Collection Market.
Covering an area of 48,500 square meters, Panjiayuan Collection Market is the most popular flea market in Beijing. It has a traditional Chinese style facade with grey walls, red window frames, a pair of red lanterns hanging from the roof. A black plaque with seven big golden Chinese characters announces your entrance into the Panjiayuan Collection Market.
All the shops are open seven days a week, and the roadside stands open up every weekend. On Saturdays and Sundays the market can receive up to seventy thousand customers, of which about a seventh are foreigner. Dignitaries like Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Thailand Princess, have visited this market. Climbing the Great Wall, tasting roast duck, visiting the Imperial Palace, and strolling in the Panjiayuan market have become ¡°must-do¡± for international visitors.
Panjiayuan offers the most complete collection of antique goods in China: classic Chinese furniture, the four treasures of study (ink brushes, ink sticks, ink slabs, and paper), old books and magazines, Chinese calligraphy works and paintings, agate and jade objects, pottery and porcelain, Chinese and foreign coins, shadow play puppets made from donkey hide, facial makeup used in traditional Chinese operas, Buddhist religious items, costumes of Chinese ethnic groups, as well as relics of the Great Cultural Revolution (1966~1976), etc.
This market is also a platform of Chinese folk handicrafts: Hengshui snuff bottles, Yangliuqing spring festival pictures, Jiangsu embroidery, Dongyang wood carvings, Quyang stone engravings and sculptures, Shandong shadow play, Jiangxi porcelain and crystal ornaments, Yixing boccaro wares, Shanxi bronze wares, Yunnan costumes, artifacts of Tibetan Buddhism, Xinjiang white jade, and so on.
There is one feature of Panjiayuan: vendors in large hall in the center of the market are keen to trade with foreign visitors, sometimes to the point of getting a bit pushy. If you are a trained antique collector, you might find out some genuine antiques at inexpensive prices amongst genuine fakes. Don't hesitate to haggle with vendors.
Generally speaking, the shop owners or assistants have a better command of English than the flea market vendors. It is open from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm.
Beijing Antique City
Beijing Antique City lies southward of Panjiayuan market. Decorated in a magnificently graceful style, the four-story Antique City is as half large as Panjiayuan market. 300 shops deal in antiques, jewelry, old porcelain items, old watches and clocks, antique rugs, Buddhist religious artifacts, classic Chinese furniture, famous artists¡¯ calligraphic works and paintings, and other miscellaneous items.
Shop assistants receive many foreign visitors every day, so they can speak fluent English. A point of interest to flag on your personal map of Beijing.
Tianya Antique City
Further south, you will arrive at a crossroad. Turn right and step forward to face the impressive bronze-colored, nine-storey building which shelters Tianya Antique City. This is a brand new landmark in the antique business circle, which was opened on Sept, 2007.
The facade of the building is decorated with a Jue, an ancient wine vessel with three legs and a loop handle, a set of ancient chime-bells, ancient porcelain wares, and the most famous ancient Chinese painting named Qing Ming Shang He Tu which depicts a prosperous street scene of the North Song Dynasty (960~1127). Truly an amazing work of art!
Comprised of nine floors above ground and three levels underground, Tianya Antique City is now the biggest of its kind in Asia.
Its 9 floors are arranged into 9 pedestrian streets, with each one looking like the streets back in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. You will find Jewelry, jade, semi-precious¡¯ stones, Buddha figures, ivory ornaments, paintings and calligraphies, antiques and reproductions, and many other miscellaneous sold here.
Tianya market has implemented a series of strict control measures to prohibit the selling of fake antiques and jewelry. The place abounds therefore in genuine, valuable, rare, and high-end artifacts
Back to the Henan Plaza
We have just browsed four antique markets in one fell swoop. This walk will take you half a day if you just want to take a rough look. But to be honest, there are just too many things to see in such a limited time. And if you take a close look, the walk will take you one to two days.
The sheer number and diversity of artistic treasures will have broadened your horizon and enriched your life.
Return to the Henan Plaza in the same way you came.
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