Introduction
Silk Street ( xiù shuǐ jiē 秀水街 ) is a shopping center in Beijing that accommodates over 1,700 retail vendors, notorious among international tourists for their wide selection of counterfeit designer brand apparels.

The old Silk Market in September 2004, now demolished. 

History of Xiushui Silk Street
The Xiushui Silk Street was originated in 1982 when a group of ambitious youth started their business at Silk Eastern Road, Beijing, with very simple stalls at that time. They dealt in silk and foreign-trade apparels. Though simple and crude, the inherent charm of Silk Street then was not glossed over. The silk street got its name in 1985 when more and more vendors began to sell traditional Chinese silk products and crafts. Its repute spread fast, and more and more customers and travelers are attracted by the reasonable price of its products. The former Xiushui Silk Street is an outdoor market. Since 1985, Xiushui Silk Street has been popular with overseas tourists who have flocked to buy counterfeit and knock-off luxury clothes and accessories. Fake brands with good quality are what the Xiushui Silk Street was famous for, but measures have been taken to curb that as well. Law enforcement workers with the Chaoyang branch of the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce have confiscated numerous shoes of pirated Nike, counterfeit Adidas shoes and fake sports suits for the past decades.

The new Xiushui Shopping Mall
On 19 March 2005, Beijing Silk Street High-rise, which draws lots of attentions, is open for business officially. New Silk Street is built next to the original market. It has five floors on the ground and three on the underground, with a building area of altogether 28,000 sq. m, and a capacity of thousands of stalls. After more than 20 years development, the two characters “Xiu Shui” have become a famous brand among the sphere of commodity circulation in Beijing. The Silk Street High-rise is tightly near CBD ( Central Business District 商务中心区 ), the total floorage amount to 28,000 square meters, and there are 1,500 stalls in the market. Though the shopping center's management group promises to weed out counterfeit or poor quality goods in the market, and there are fewer imitation brand name goods sold at Xiushui Market than there used to be along Silk Street, there is still no way to completely keep knock-offs out of the market.

What to buy in Xiushui Silk Street
Commodities mainly sold in Silk Street are shoes, bags and cases, leather, famous brand, casual wear, fashion clothing, cowboy series, sports leisure attire, knitted dress, kid's clothing, tie, silk handkerchief ( sī jīn 丝巾 ), silk wax printing, craft table cloth, handicraft, jewelry, antique, calligraphy and painting, Beijing roast duck ( běi jīng kǎo yā 北京烤鸭 )and characteristic snack ( tè sè xiǎo chī 特色小吃 ), etc.

Bargaining is still essential here so be sure to check out our Guide to Bargaining in Beijing before you venture out here in order to get the best prices. Fake goods might still also be found here despite the government making efforts to stamp it out across the city.Items which you can find in this market include: Shoes, Jeans, Trousers, Jackets, Shirts, Chinese Souvenirs, Chinese Rugs/Carpets, Golf Equipment, Pearls, Watches, Sunglasses, Silk by the roll, Chinese Paintings, Small Electronics and many other things. It also has a small supermarket in the basement. Prices are generally very reasonable here compared to your home country and if you are a skilled bargainer, you might be able to get things ridiculously cheap.

Special Store

ChuanmingTang ( chuān míng táng 穿名堂 )

ChuanmingTang is in the level A4-0059 of SilkStreet market, operating Lifestyle Women, though the little store, the owner of the goods is done in accordance with the trend of foreign tourists in Europe and America and the preferences of carefully selected gifts innovative fashion styles , the fine craftsmanship attracted a lot of office work in the neighboring white-collar fashion, many of whom are regulars here.

YunSheng Carpet ( yún shēng dì tǎn 匀升地毯 )

YunSheng carpet is in the north of the three-tier in SilkStreet, the operation of weaving silk carpets are from, carpet workers are each a unique design, a carpet workers need a few months or even a few years to complete.

Rui Fu Xiang ( ruì fú xiáng 瑞蚨祥 )

 Chinese Painting and Calligraphy ( zhōng guó shū huà 中国书画 )

Chinese painting and calligraphy at the central market four main operating various types of calligraphy, paintings. In the store, you can often see the boss a calligraphy show, many stores selling works are created by the boss himself.

Hand painting ( shǒu huì 手绘 )

The scene painting palm production in the southeast part of four buildings, Silk Street, the scene produced a number of civil learned one. As its name implies, hand painting is to replace pen in hand to painting creation is the spread of one of China's traditional folk arts. (Figure: Seychelles president visited the scene painted palm production during the China-Africa Forum)

Slogan: Shopping with confidence

Location
The Xiu Shui street mall is located along Chang An avenue near the Yong An Li ( yǒng ān lǐ 永安里 ) line 1 subway station. You can now walk directly from the subway into the mall via an underground passageway without stepping outside into the scorching heat of summer or the terrible cold of winter. Alternatively you can take a taxi using the Chinese name shown below. Print and hand to your taxi driver.

                                       ( Click above picture to view the map )
Address             Xiushui East street, abuts on the southeast of Ritan embassy
Public Transport  Bus Route 1, 4, 9, 28, 37, 43, 120, 126, 205, 639, 640, 668, 673, 728, 
                        729, 802, 810 (get off at Yonganli Stop) 
                        Subway: Line 1 (get off at Yonganli Stop)
Website             http://www.silkstreet.cc/templet/en/index.jsp
Telephone         +86 (0) 10 5169-9003,5169-9088
Opening Hours    9:30 AM to 9:00 PM 
                        Live traditional music exciting Chinese Mask performance daily at 7:20pm