Wangfujing Shopping Street

Wangfujing Street (王府井) is one of Beijing’s oldest and most famous shopping streets. The streets history began in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) and there were already commercial ventures on the street by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) eight princely estates were built here (so the emperor could keep an eye on his brothers) and soon after a well full of sweet water was discovered. This is how the street derived its name; "Wang Fu" (=princely estates), "Jing" (=well). In 1903, Dong'an market was formed on the street and it became one of the main shopping districts. Prior to 1949, the street was also known as Morrison Street, after the Australian journalist George Ernest Morrison.

In 2000, much of Wangfujing St was turned into a pedestrian street. This has relieved the traffic problems for the area and made the street a much more pleasant walking space. It starts from Wangfujing Nankou in the south, where the Oriental Plaza, the Beijing Hotel, and the Wangfujing subway stop are located. Oriental Plaza or more literally translated as the Oriental Heaven on Earth is a huge mall that covers a very long city block. Filled with the latest international brands it is a modern, hip and expensive mall that wouldn't be out of place in NY, LA or even Minneapolis. The Beijing Hotel was the main hotel to house foreigners during much of the Communist era. It was from here that much of the footage of the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square Incident was filmed.

It then heads north, past the Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore, the Beijing Department Store as well as the Foreign Languages Bookstore before terminating at the Sun Dong An Plaza.

Prior to the late 1990s trolleybuses, buses, and other traffic ran through the street, making it rather congested. Modifications in 1999 and 2000 made much of Wangfujing Street car-free (aside from the tour trolley and occasional military vehicles doing bank transfers). Now through traffic detours to the east of the street.

Wangfujing is home to around 280 shops including some with a long history in Beijing (Shengxifu hat store, Tongshenghe shoe shop, Wuyutai tea house). A photo studio which took the official photos of Mao Zedong and other early Communist Leaders of China is about half way up the block. They still have some of these images in their window (although now more for tourism than patriotism). The New China Woman and Children Department Store was established here by Song Qingling can also be found on the street.

Remember that this is a tourist street - so keep an eye on your belongings, bargain hard when purchasing, and don't be too trusting of strangers. The people who approach you to visit their art studios are not students and the paintings are not hand painted. It is a scam! It might be fun to chat with these scallywags but don't buy. Others might approach offering anything from a massage to themselves - if something seems to good to be true - it probably is. This is not to say that the street is dangerous or that all the people are out to cheat you. Wangfujing like Times Square, The Village or any other tourist spot in a big city is full of interesting sites, interesting people and those looking to make a buck off the new guy; use common sense and enjoy.