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Here are a few ideas for things to buy or places to shop which take you beyond the usual mass-market haunts of Hong Qiao, Yashow Market and Xiu Shui/Silk Alley.  All of these can be found at or along the stops on our suggested Beijing Itineraries, so they will not take you out of your way.

Nanluoguxiang 南锣鼓巷

As much as we bemoan the development of this hutong alley, here you can find some small creative shops not selling the usual things: 

• Pottery Workshop (No. 23, tel: 6401 3799; unique designs, propaganda mugs; www.potteryworkshop.org);
  
• Grifted (No. 32, tel: 6406 2716; humorous, slightly twisted traditional and propaganda motifs; www.grifted.com.cn);
  
• Plastered (No. 61, tel: 8884 8855; funky, unique T-shirts that do not say “I climbed the Great Wall”;  www.plasteredtshirts.com) are just a few places where you might pick up a memorable Beijing souvenir. 

All fixed prices.

If you aren’t ready to re-mortgage your house to buy a painting, you might find a coffee table book on your favorite Chinese contemporary artist at Time Zone 8 bookstore.  If you have your heart set on buying original art, photography (798 Photo Gallery) and prints (Amelie Gallery) are among the most affordable.  Wandering the warren of studios and workshops in 798, you may also find unique pieces of jewelry or interesting ceramics.  

For beautiful black and white photographs of Old Beijing and of landscapes, portraits and scenes of daily life from across China, visit Da Kang Photography Studio, owned by a retired photojournalist. His shop is tucked in the corner of Panjiayuan, in one of the permanent perimeter shops.  Shop number: B40, Tel:  010-51204677


Spin Ceramics

Nearby 798 in the Lido Hotel area is our favorite ceramics shop in Beijing.  The brain child of a Chinese-American designer, Spin melds modern design sensibility with traditional spinning and glazing techniques from Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China.  The result is a collection of bold, stylish, sometimes playful, yet also classic and functional tableware and house wares that will all threaten to follow you home.  Glazes are primarily a milky celadon with restrained use of sharp color accents.  Fixed prices. 

Details:  Open 10:30am-9:30pm. 6 Fangyuan Xilu, tel: 6437 8649. From the Lido Holiday Inn, stand at the back/mall entrance (丽都广场) with the Starbucks to your back; walk out the driveway and down the street running perpendicularly into the driveway.  Spin is on your right side about 100 meters from the hotel.  It is somewhat poorly signed—look for the low red brick building.

Tea shops abound in all parts of town, especially in tourist areas, and there is even an entire Maliandao Tea Street in Beijing, located near the West Beijing Train Station.  Whenever you pass one, go in, take a rest, and enjoy a cup, or two or three.  Do not feel pressured to buy anything—it is perfectly OK to give a polite thank you and walk away—but taste as much as possible to learn what teas you enjoy. Prices can be somewhat negotiable (rather, they will commonly offer you a price lower than what's marked so do ask).