Walk to the downtown of Beijing

Before you even start walking in Beijing, you need to make sure you have a supply of drinking water and that the shoes on your feet are good for walking. You can walk miles in this city and not find a place to rest.

My walk starts with a taxi ride to the Silk Market. This was a series of little alleyways where there were stalls selling copied goods, seconds and overruns from well known brands who manufactured in China. Now you will find it is one building full of little stalls. The Chinese government is trying to cut down the number of outright copies you can buy and there have been a number of court cases against stall holders. You can also find stalls supplying made to measure silk garments such as jackets and dresses. It will take some time to go around. Remember that every price is negotiable so whatever price they come out with first look to spend about 10% of that. The quickest way to get a discount is to appear interested and then start to walk away, you will be amazed just how quickly the price comes down. Always barter using the term Kwai this is the local slang for RMB.

Come out of the Silk Market by the main entrance facing the dual carriageway and turn right. About five minutes walk will bring you to the Beijing friendship store. The first thing Americans will recognize is a Baskin Robbins ice cream parlor and on the side of the Friendship store is a Starbucks. Inside is a fixed price store with everything from silks and satin cloth to ready made garments. Remember that even in fixed price stores you can ask for a discount if you are spending a lot of money. You need to realize that the sizes will be for Chinese and not for westerners. The final corner of this store I like to visit is the music section where music instruments common in the west such as guitars and pianos sit side by side with Chinese instruments.

Come out of the Friendship store by the front entrance and turn right and be ready for a long walk. The next point you are aiming for is Tiananmen where the enormous square is the center of Beijing. You will need to cross the dual carriageway by means of the underpass system in order to get into the square. We have a separate article on the square. You may visit the Forbidden city, the last refuge for the emperor of China.

When you have been around the square and if you wish go into the forbidden city then return to the dual carriageway and keep going in the same direction. You will find on the left hand side a post office. A post office is very useful as in Beijing and most of China they only sell postcards in packs of 10. These may be useful as reminders of your trip but if you only want to send a few cards to family and friends then they may be too much. The selection here is large so you can choose what to send.

Carrying on in the same direction will take you to some of the larger department stores and some bookstores in Beijing. You will note that the majority of the books are in Chinese with the English books being mainly classics.
The return trip to the hotel can then be accomplished by taxi unless you feel like continuing your walking marathon.