Shopping in yang shuo
Yangshuo (about 70 km from Guilin) also has some sweet little boutiques and a great weekend market where you can pick up some nice souvenirs and also some good quality clothing. Yangshuo painted fans are delightfully delicate and colorful. The fans are available in various sizes but all are made with either silk or paper with bamboo as the fan support.
West Street is the most popular place to start your shopping in Yangshuo
adventure. Yangshuo does not have any big shopping centers (for those you need to go to Guilin or other cities) but instead there are plenty of small shops selling all kinds of unique goods which are sometimes hard to find elsewhere. As said, West Street is probably the best destination to shop but other streets, East Street is trying hard to equal West Street, have shops and hawker stalls too. This page gives you an idea what you find.
Note also the tourist market at the arrival of the boat from Guilin and at night around the entrance of the Liu Sanjie Show. Before buying something, shop around first and become familiar with the prices offered.
 The painted fan undergoes a series of processes including dyeing, mounting and painting with lacquer before it is ready for retail. Local painters in Yangshuo particularly enjoy depicting birds, flowers, insects and traditional Chinese girls. These fans are widely available in Yangshuo in many of the boutiques in the village and also at the weekend market.
Paintings are an excellent thing to give away. You will find quite a few painting shops in West Street. Popular motives are an imaginary Guilinesque landscapes, 4 seasons, flowers, bamboo, warriors, calligraphy and other motivies. Paintings usually come on the roll but you can buy the painting usually without a roll too.
Prices depend on size, use of colors and the painter. Although motives are commonly used and many are made in art galleries in production line, they are all handmade and thus unique. The price is always negotiable.
Xingping has some good quality painting shops too and the paintings can be cheaper if you bargain hard.
Many shops also sell painting materials like pencils, brushes, paint and some shops offer lessons in painting and calligraphy.
 Handicrafts
Handicrafts in Yangshuo, yes there are plenty of shops selling handicrafts from all over China. You will find cheap Tibetan silver, tribal textiles, Yunnan dresses, Dong minority embroidery and much more. The Dong Xi Fang shop in West Street is a good starting point to explore the handicraft for sale in Yangshuo. However, check other shops too. Ask for prices around until you roughly have an idea about the price and then bargain.
Handicrafts for sale include masks, puppets, antiques, woodcarving and much more
Masks and puppets
Like the paintings masks and puppets, expensive or cheap are all handmade and all unique. Most masks are made of wood and colorful painted. Puppets are usually dressed up in traditional costumes with embroideries. They might be heavy but it's easy to mail them back home. The post office in Yangshuo will help you ship them safely back home.
Yangshuo people are clever with their hands. Their exact and exquisite handicrafts are popular among all tourists. The painted fans, the embroidered balls, and the bamboo walking sticks, are much favored by foreign visitors. Another unique and traditional tourist souvenir is the Culture Shirt (Wenhua Shan). It is a cotton T-shirt on which are painted beautiful Yangshuo scenery or you can have your favorite phrase written in either English or in Chinese.
You can get these souvenirs near all the tourist spots and at the street stalls. We highly recommend you visit West Street, where most people speak English fluently and the goods are named in both English and Chinese. Along West Street there are over one hundred stalls selling various tourist souvenirs, including not only the items mentioned above, but also antiques, ornaments, as well as Chinese calligraphy and Chinese paintings. Additionally, there are many special stores selling silk, linen and wax painted cloths, where you can have a suit made to order according to your size.
Antiques
Buying antiques can be a tricky business. Not all antiques are allowed to export to your own country. Make sure if you buy antiques you are sure you can bring it back home.
Have you learned to eat with chopsticks? West Street has a variety of shops selling beautiful chopsticks in sets of 8 to 24 pairs.
Fans/palm fans
Most of the fans and palm fans can be found at the hawker stalls near the Li River and exit of the boats from Guilin. Fans can be made of paper or bamboo.
There's an easy and popular gift. Like masks and paintings it's a good idea to send these home by mail.
T-Shirts and other clothes
West Street and New West Street have several T-shirt shops. You can let your picture be drawn on a t-shirt or buy a t-shirt with your favorite person or picture on it. Some shops offer shirts with calligraphy or cartoons of famous people (or yourself, if you insist).
There are several clothes shops with trousers, shirts, ties, skirts, dresses etc in western sizes. You might even find shoes in your size.
Outdoor materials
In West Street and Guihua Road there are a few outdoor shops. Some of the shops are related to climbing shops and offer specific climbing materials.
Camping gear, sunglasses, even sleeping bags. You will find (copy) North Face materials.
Pillow sheets, bags, hats etc.
You want to buy a souvenir for the folks back home but have little space in your bags? Pillow sheets are a nice and lightweight present.
Books
Many travelers search for books. It might be a hard search in other parts of China but in Yangshuo it's easy. Many cafe's have books to trade (usually 2 for 1) and there are several small book stores with a surprisingly interesting 2nd hand collection.
Tips: Remember to drive a bargain when buying items on the streets.
RMB5 - RMB8 for small fans while RMB10-RMB15 for the medium size and RMB18 to RMB30 for big fans. Nothing more or less. Be firm with your bargain. Learn some Chinese, especially for shopping purposes, to get a head start. That should surprise the sellers.
Leave a Comment
Yangshuo is just a small county, so you won't find world-famous supermarkets there. But there are several smaller scale supermarkets that can be recommend for their good quality and reasonable prices.Yangshuo has all over plenty of local supermarkets selling local produced goods. Here you find local tea, win, cigarettes, biscuits and much more.
'Ninety-nine' Supermarket
Address: in the 'City in City' leisure center in Diecui Road (the main store)
the shop front of Pingfeng Hotel in Pantao Road (the first branch store)
the shop front of New West Street Hotel in Pantao Road (the second branch store)
Lele Lai Supermarket
Address: where Diecui Road and Chengzhong Road meet
Stamps
Many shops along West Street and in side streets offer stamp carving on stone that can be used to dip in ink or as a seal in wax. You can buy ready carved stamps or ask for a personal design. They cost about 40 - 80 RMB but bear in mind it is not the size of the stone that dictates the price rather the quality and fineness of the carving as well as the value of the stone itself.
Xijie International Shopping Center
The shopping center is more like an underground network of shops but good bargains can be got here. The staff tends to be a bit pushier than on West Street perhaps because they are away from most of the crowds. If you bargain hard and use the "walking away trick" at the end then you'll be sure to get something for a good price. They mostly sell clothes but souvenirs CD's and DVD's can also be bought. See our
See all See all Shopping in Guilin
Guilin Tours|Guilin private tour |Gui lin Attraction | Things to do in Guilin| | Things to Do in Yangshuo| Guilin Hotel | Shopping in Guilin | Shopping in yang shuo |Guilin Cuisine ||Map of Yangshuo County |Map of Li River| Guilin Climate | Transportation of Guilin | Guilin to Yangshuo| Chinese Food Guide |China Guilin Yangshuo Travel Tips | |