Panjiayuan Antiques Market

Panjiayuan Antiques Market--Dig Treasures -- Antique MarketsAnother large antiques market can be found at Panjiayuan. This is a multi-sectioned covered shopping area, which is full of antiques, art, books and general kitsch.

From works of Chinese calligraphy and paintings, the four treasures of the study, old watches and clocks, jewelry, ivory and wood carvings, carpets, to antiques from Tibet, there are definitely treasures to be found here, but it is hard to tell genuine antiques from worthless fakes. Real antiques are supposed to bear a red official seal that proves their authenticity, but, sometimes, real items are not marked and faked items are. Do not worry if an item is fake or not. Many of the things on sale are not real antiques. On the other hand, recently a 50,000-year-old fossil was confiscated from one of the sellers there. The fossil was on sale for about US$150, so you never know. Here it is best to bargain down a price to a figure you can accept and go for it. Small jade articles and silver trinkets make great presents for people at home and they are easy to take on an airplane.

Hands down the best place to shop for arts (yishu), crafts (gongyi) and antiques (guwan) in Beijing is Panjiayuan (aka the Dirt or Sun¬day Market). The market takes place only at weekends and has everything from cal¬ligraphy, Cultural Revolution memorabilia and cigarette ad posters to Buddha heads, ceramics and Tibetan carpets. The market hosts up to 50,000 visitors a day scoping for treasures. Serious collectors are the early birds, swooping here at dawn to snare those precious relics. If you want to join them, early Sunday morning is the best time. You might not find that rare Qianlong doucai stem cup or late Yuan dynasty qing¬hua vase, but what's on view is no less than a compendium of Chinese curios and an A to Z of Middle Kingdom knick-knacks. Bear in mind that this market is chaos - especially if you find crowds or hard bargaining intimi¬dating. Also, ignore the 'don't pay more than half rule here - some vendors might start at 10 times the real price. Make a few rounds to compare prices and weigh it all up before forking out for anything.

Category: Souvenirs
Location: Chongwen 
Commodity category: Antiques, arts and crafts
Recommended Commodities: Jade,Stone cups&bowls, Teapots, swords and axes, Stone statues and buddhas,and so on
Pricing Category: High level
Payment: Cash
Address: 100m west of the Panjiayuan Bridge at the East Third Ring Road 
 
How To get There: Bus: No. 28, 34, 36, 300, 368, 713, 802, 730, 957, 974, 976 to Panjiayuan
Opening Hours: 4.30am-6.30pm Sat & Sun