Small Emperor
Da Zha Lanr: Shop Like An Old Beijinger
For Beijingers, shopping is a serious part of life, somewhat as sports to athletes. For several hundred years, Beijingers have been coming back to the same street of shops near the famous Beijing Emperor Hotel to buy their daily supplies and special items.
To attest, an old Beijing saying goes somewhat like this: buy shoes at Nei Lian Sheng, hats at Ma Ju Yuan, fabrics at Rui Fu Xiang, and tea at Zhang Yi Yuan, which are all famous brands nestled on the ancient street of Da Zha Lan.
Right near the Forbidden City, it’s very easy to find Da Shi Lan and the shops that have been in business for hundreds of years.
Simply walk south from the Beijing Redwall Hotel, past Tian’anmen Square, and you’ll be there in five minutes.
Da Zha Lan, with its history going far back to the 1400s, is now Beijing’s oldest commercial street. As unique as its name sounds, Da Zha Lan literally means ‘big fences’.Nearly 600 years ago, worrying the rampant thefts in Beijing, an emperor ordered fences to be built to prevent the ill phenomenon. Residents in the Da Zha Lan area built fences that were higher and stronger, and thus people began to dub the area ‘big fences’ for easy reference.
Today, as it was in the past, the street is packed with teahouses, theatres, tailor shops, silk stores, restaurants, and handicraft shops. They stands in a parade of ancient buildings that immediately bring you back in time!
The Shops
Nei Lian Sheng
The 160-year old shop Nei Lian Sheng near the Beijing Hwa Apartment Hotel sells handmade cloth shoes. Their shoes are celebrated for the expert craftsmanship and superb relaxation.
In the past, the major patrons of shoes made in Nei Lian Sheng were offials working in imperial palace nearby. Not only were the shoes made with excellent finish, but the name suggested something that everyone hoped to fulfil: spiralling up to be the top-ranked officals.
Today, workers apply techinques perfected throughout the past century to make customized shoes. The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was a big fan of Nei Lian Sheng and many of his shoes were made here.
Ma Ju Yuan
The hat shop Ma Ju Yuan was built in 1817. Starting from a small stall, the shop came to make the ‘red turf hat’ for the Qing dynasty government.
That was probably why old Beijingers took a hat made in Ma Ju Yuan as a showy object.
In the years that followed, the shop saw countless orders for hats from princes, religious figures, and foreign leaders. Even today, Beijingers prefer to buy their hats at Ma Ju Yuan like they have been doing over the past century.
Rui Fu Xiang
Established in 1891, the shop sells all kinds of top-quality fabric: cotton, silk, woolen cloth, and so on.
Few people know that the cloth used to make China’s first flag to be raised in its nation-founding ceremony in 1949, was actually supplied by Rui Fu Xiang.
There are a few of in-house tailors who make some of the most beautiful cheongsams you can possibly find in Beijing. Many foreigners had become fond of their products and had one of their own made here to show off back home.
Zhang Yi Yuan
In 1900, Zhang Yi Yuan came into business. Since then, the shop has been offering some of the best tea Beijing has to offer. Every year, they buy tea directly from plantations. This allows them to have tea leaves grown in a natual enviroment and picked at its best time to pick.
They use their own method of processing tea leaves, which proved to be a big hit among tea lovers. Their special jasmine tea is now sold at a low price.
Da Guan Cinema
Da Guan Cinema, Beijing’s first cinema, was established in 1905. It is even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for its length of continuous operation.
Today, much of the cinema is left in its original decor, and as the audience did half a century ago, you can enjoy the film while sipping your tea. Every day, increasing number of people flock in for the one-of-a-kind experience of watching movies in Beijing’s first and oldest cinema.
Footsteps of the Emperor (Short Extract)
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