Downtown Jingdezhen Porcelain Outlet

When it comes to porcelain, the town of Jingdezhen is by far the most famous in China.

On the southern side of Zhushikou Dongdajie near the Beijing Emperor lies a large Jingdezhen porcelain shop named Jiangqing Zhai.

It is owned by a porcelain company based in Jingdezhen.

Various delicate porcelain wares behind the shop windows attracted me in.

The spacious setting is full of art. A wide variety of porcelain items are displayed on shelves. The selection was very good.

According to the shopkeeper, who is from Jingdezhen, all these items on display can be divided into four categories: artistic porcelain created by famous artists, antique reproductions, daily-use porcelain, and gift items.

I noticed several beautiful items.

One was a plate painted with colorful mandarin ducks, lotus flowers, and lotus leaves (RMB 70).

Another was a gift box, which contained three little caskets painted with lovely pandas eating bamboos (RMB 100).

I also admired many elegantly-painted vases with strong traditional Chinese characteristics.

Colored glaze jewelry

On the first floor of Baigong Handicraft Museum near the Beijing Jiangxi Grand Hotel lies a shop named BaiYiDeKun Liuli Fang, which specializes in Liuli products. I found mostly a large variety of necklace pendants and colorful bracelets on display.

According to shop assistant, Liuli is very durable, as hard as jade. Their best-selling item is a pendant called “Yuan Meng”, which means ‘realizing one’s dream’. It is a glittering, translucent blue circular ring, matched with a 14K white gold necklace. I found it graceful and mysterious, and could see why it was so popular. Price was RMB 480.

Another pendant caught my eye is called Loving Heart (RMB 365), especially the cherub with open wings inscribed within.

Not all jewelry inside are this expensive. The shop also carries some craftworks fit for present or souvenir, such as a Peking Opera-decorated small folding screen, for under RMB 100.

Beijing Yixing purple clay teapot

The name comes from Yixing in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, and the original place of purple clay teapot production.

Zheng Fu Cao Tang is a shop selling various shapes of clay pots made from teapot masters in Yixing right near a lot of Beijing hotels.

Entering the shop, I was enthralled by its atmosphere. In the middle of the spacious exhibition room, four deep sofas create cozy place for visitors to rest, with a glass display of precious teapots in the center.

Not far away, a traditional rosewood tea table holds a tea set on top while four wooden chair on four sides. Yellow lights, which casted shadows on clay pots lined up on shelves, produced an odd atmosphere.

Some of the teapots are symbols of blessing, like the fish-shaped teapots for wealth or the fruit-shaped pots for good harvest.

The shop also carries a clay pot made by Master Wang Xiaolong. Due to its complex technique, the pot is only for display purposes.

Prices are from RMB 80 to over thousands, according to different skill levels involved.

A.Helen Fashion Studio

Due to their designers’ superb cutting and technical skills, the studio has authorization to use the top international fabric brands.

Their designers are highly experienced with years of overseas designing experience, so customers can get quality custom-tailoring service meeting international standard.

For ladies, the designers create a customized design based on occupation, personality and taste.

They make clothes for all occasions, including business wear, daily wear, wedding dresses, evening gowns, and even traditional Chinese dresses.

A·Helen combines western high-grade fashion with the traditional Chinese workmanship for their Chinese-style garments.

For men, they offer over 2,000 kinds of domestic and import suit fabrics, and over 500 different high-quality shirt fabrics.

You don’t have to worry about being unable to finding the right fit.

A·Helen’s senior designers and tailors deeply involve the customer throughout the process. First they help you pick a design style and a choice of fabric.

Then, the designer calls upon you for a sample fitting. If the fitting goes well, you can pick up your finished clothes the next visit.

Otherwise, you will need a re-fitting. The entire process takes about 15-20 days. But in the end, you will get a truly personalized suit.

Prices for ladies’ wear range from RMB 2,000 to RMB 22,000. For men, suits range from RMB 2,600~90,000. Minimum price for formal attire is RMB 2,200.

For a Chinese style suit, price starts at RMB 1600.

Please call for an appointment in advance if you’d like to pay a visit to the studio.

Petrified trees

Mr. Wang, the shop owner, greeted me when in entered the shop. He showed me his large collection of jade and jadeite jewelry in the showcases.

He explained that jadeite is harder than jade, and asked me to look at the green-colored bracelets and necklace pendants, which looked very elegant and beautiful.

He also told me that Chinese consider jade more precious than gold. Jade stands for morality and virtue. Wearing jade improves health in many ways, such as relieving vexation, nourishing the five internal organs, and unblocking blood vessels.

Looking around, I noticed some oddly shaped stones with fruity luster and colors. Mr. Wang told me they were petrified trees, which were formed naturally during the period from 355 to 65 million years ago.

I almost couldn’t believe my ears! Holding my breath I took a close look at one of them, and found that it was really a fossilized tree. Even though it looked like a stone, I could see its textures and growth rings on the cross section.

The shop owner said petrified trees had great archaeological values, and more importantly, they could serve as beautiful decorations at home.

Combining Chinese traditional Tea culture with Eastern medicine, Hanyilou shop on Beijing’s famous tea street Maliandao near the Beijing Hong Kun International Hotel carries a series of healthy tea pillows.

Tea pillow has a long history in China. Many Chinese in ancient times made simple tea pillows to treat headache and insomnia.

The shop owner, Mr. Zhang, told me they use natural green tea, Oolong tea, or flower tea.

All teas are gathered from in natural tea gardens located above Mount Taimu in Fujian Province, and then used to fill the pillow’s heart.

A fragrant pillow could improve sleep quality, rejuvenate one’s mind, and  reduce stress. Prices vary from a small cushion for RMB 118 to an adult pillow at RMB 236.

The shop also displays some cute tea-pet figurines, like the “dragon fish” and “two lions fighting for a ball”. All these are symbols of blessing in China.

Tea lovers like to raise their tea pets on the tea set, by splashing them with extra water used in teas.

Due to the special of the materials used, the pets become shinier the more hot tea they absorb.

Prices vary from RMB 15 to RMB 50.

Just as its name implies, Yu Hai Cui Yuan, is indeed a “sea of jade”. Located on Fatou Xili Street near The Jiang Xi Grand Hotel, it is very close to the Temple of Heaven.

Upon entering the shop, I was first attracted by a huge jade carving of a cabbage displayed in a glass container.

It looked fantastic, both in terms of size and craftsmanship. According to the shop assistant, it took totally three years to carve this giant piece of work.

Needless to say, the price tag was also quite amazing, at RMB 1,000,000.

Another characteristic jade carving is a basket containing peonies, peaches, and guavas with butterflies flying, and a cat standing aside.

This is a good birthday present to the elderly. Peonies and butterflies symbolize wealth, while peaches and cats mean longevity.

Besides these exquisite jade carvings, this shop also holds a range of jade jewelry. The jade is imported from Burma, which are the best in the world.

The raw jade are then carved into their present form by Yu Hai Cui Yuan’s own group of artists. Prices vary from RMB 300 to RMB 58,000.