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Best known for pearls (hence its alternative name, the “Pearl Market”), with a huge range available, freshwater and seawater, up on the third floor. The floors below are a tight compress of clothing, shoes, electronics, and more, while in the basement is a pungent, but fascinating market for fish, frogs, and snakes (see Hong Qiao Market).

A large mall that stretches a whole city block and boasts several levels of top-end retailers including Paul Smith, Swarovski, Sisley, Max Mara, and Apple. There are also a couple of supermarkets, a sizeable pharmacy, a big CD and DVD store, and an excellent food court (see also Oriental Plaza).

More properly known as Xiushui, this is the most infamous market in Beijing. It is reportedly the city’s third main tourist attraction after the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Some 100,000 shoppers a day visit to snap up famous brand goods for ridiculously low prices. Of course, they are all fakes, but who’s to know? However, visitors may not have to struggle with the morality of it all for much longer, as the trade in counterfeits is likely to be stamped out before the Olympics come to town (see also Silk Market).

At the center of the embassy district of Sanlitun, Yaxiu (or Yashow) offers more of the same as the Silk Market: four floors of clothing, bags, shoes, and sportswear, plus some jewelry, nail salons, and a bunch of tailors on the top floor who can run up a gent’s suit for around ¥350 (see also Yaxiu Market).

Beaded purse

As much a tourist attraction as a shopping experience, Panjiayuan is home to around 3,000 dealers peddling everything from broken bicycles to family heirlooms. Come for Mao memorabilia, a Qing-dynasty vase, or yellowing Tintin comics in Chinese. The market kicks off daily at 4:30am, and is at its busiest, best, and most chaotic at the weekends. Serious collectors swoop at dawn, but it’s fun any time.

Beijing’s ritziest mall is attached to the equally luxurious China World Hotel. The mall, which is also known as Guomao, is home to elite international brands such as Moschino, Prada, Cartier, and Louis Vuitton. Prices are at least as expensive as back home (see also China World Shopping Mall).

In a series of hangar-like buildings southeast of SOHO, traders sell just about anything and everything. It is where restaurants and hotels buy pots and pans, schools come for classroom supplies, service staff buy uniforms, and small traders and cooks come for fresh fruit and vegetables. You may not need a carton of 1,000 chopsticks, but it is fascinating to browse, all the same.

This covered market, just north of the Third Ring Road, not far from the Kempinski hotel, is an appealing mix of garden center and tropical fish store. Half the vast ground floor is filled with bamboo, cactus, and ornamental rockeries, while the other half is all large aquariums of brightly colored marine life – plus ceramics downstairs.

Bizarre name, but the aliens in question are the Russians, who do most of the buying and selling here (see also Aliens Street Market).

Pick up a used mobile phone for under ¥300, or a new model for two-thirds the normal retail price. Aside from phones, there are three floors packed with TVs, CD and mp3 players, and games consoles.