Travel tips

As the capital of China, Beijing has been a center for commerce for centuries. Beijing is undoubtedly number one place to go shopping in China.

Beijing has a lot of the unique arts and crafts like jade carvings, opera masks, handmade dough sculptures and shadow puppets. If you are fond of silk, Beijing is a truly fantastic place to go shopping silk.

During the Olympics game in Beijing, XiuShui Market is the most popular place for shopping Chinese silk. Xiushuijie Market used to be a market on the street with stalls and vendors on both sides and now it has been renovated into a big shopping mall with modern facilities.

You will find different name brand fashions, books, tea, silk products, pearls, antiques and other tourist souvenirs here. This market is so large and opens daily from 9am to 9pm. When you shop in the Xiushui Market, bargaining is neither a quarrel nor a face-losing act, but instead a friendly communication. Only one thing you just keep in mind: vendors always overcharge, allowing a wide scope for you to haggle.

If you are not in a hurry in Beijing, a visit to the other market, like the Beijing Wangfujing Walking Street, Panjiayuan Wholesale Market or Hongqiao Wholesale Market also has a great fun.

You can find silk scarf, silk nightgowns, silk quilt, and silk shirts and so on in all these markets. Knowing the way how to choose the silk will be much helpful for you to go shopping in Beijing. There are four ways to tell you how to distinguish the true silk from the artificial one:

True silk is smooth to feel, naturally shiny and bright. It drapes well, feels wonderful on the skin, and absorbs moisture. True silk feels fantastic.

True silk will be smooth and soft to the touch and it will lay across the skin in a very natural way. Fake silk will not have these properties.

True silk will emit a sound when rubbing. It is called the silk voice. If silk does not have a voice, it is man-made and not authentic silk.

Take a thread from the cloth, and light it. True silk will burn slowly, and curl. It will smell like burning hair, and will crumble into dust. Fake silk will burn quickly, smell like burning plastic, and will melt into a glob.

Author: Joan Chen

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china tour Professional China Tour Operator with tailor made service. Come with us to see China with your own eyes and touch this ground with your hands. All services are private and in small group with English speaking tour guide and license driver.