Best fakes market in Beijing
Many people will want to visit a fakes market in Beijing – and most will debate whether to visit the XiuShui Silk Street Market (ex Silk Alley) at Yonganli metro station (Exit A), near the diplomatic quarter, or the Hongqiao Market at the Temple of Heaven, commonly known as the Pearl Market. (Tiantan Dingman Metro, Exit A)
If you are just in the market to buy knockoff clothing, bags, shoes, t-shirts, souvenirs, Gore-Tex and down jackets, and silk wear etc, then my personal recommendation would be to visit Silk Market. Apart from pearls (which Hongqiao Pearl Market specializes in), pretty much everything that you can get at Hongqiao, you can get at Silk Street, but the Silk Street market is much more extensive and much better laid out and you are likely to be inclined to stay longer at Silk Street.
As well as all the stock-in-trade fake stuff, Silk Street has a much larger range of shops selling higher quality labelled merchandise (usually still fake), as well as bespoke tailoring of suits and dresses, and shops selling homeware, Manchester, baby clothing etc. Some of the Chinese silk tailored clothes are particularly nice. There are sections selling children’s and baby wear, and toys on the upper floor.
There is a large section selling electronics on lower floors, but you really do tend to get what you pay for in terms of quality.
On the upper floors are Chinese medicine pharmacies, optometrists that can make you up very inexpensive progressive lens eyeglasses (500RMB in your frames, 800RMB with frame). There is also extensive and inexpensive food court, and cheap Chinese buffet restaurants that are popular with tour groups. On the ground floor there is a very good Pizza restaurant (Sarpinos), and a line of excellent coffee shops that can only be accessed from outside the building.
If you are buying gifts for others, I highly recommend doing your homework before you go. Make sure you know peoples US and European shoes sizes. Clothing sizes in the market are confusing and inaccurate, so before you leave home pack a garment that you can bring to the market to compare size – one of your husband or wife’s shirts/blouses, or a child’s t-shirt. You will be glad you did.
If you want some clothing tailored, give the tailor an item of your clothing to copy, or make sure that you have 2 or 3 fittings if you are getting a suit or similar made up. The more fittings you have, the better the quality you will get.
If you don’t like being continually approached by touts to buy, then you won’t like the Chinese fake markets.
I have seen reviews saying that Pearl market is cheaper than Silk Market and vice versa but the reality is that the final price that you will pay is identical at both markets and is only dependent on how skilled you are at bargaining. You absolutely MUST bargain ruthlessly hard, or you risk ending up paying retail prices. Vendors start their pricing high, hoping they will sucker you into making a substantially lower offer that is still a lot higher than their base price. Establish the price by NOT buying at the first store. Show interest, but don’t get into haggling. As you leave the store, the vendor will drop their price lower and lower, giving you a indicator of a realistic price. It is bad etiquette to haggle unless you genuinely want to buy, so return to the store, or proceed to the next store and start bargaining with this better price knowledge. Try to get the vendor to drop their price a couple of times before you start bargaining (easier said than done for many people), and then counter with your own price – maybe 10-25% of the price the vendor wants. Don’t budge. If the vendor keeps trying to sell you the item, you should be able to get it for your price. They will quickly refuse to sell or bargain if your price is too low. The vendors are masters at buyer manipulation and at reading you. Don’t worry if they get grumpy or aggressive or rude – a lot of this is to make you a little uncomfortable and to make you pay or buy or settle at a higher price.
Many of the vendors sell for the same owner. There is always a price that they will not go below. Vendors will talk to other stores by walkie-talkie radio to source the particular item you want if their store doesn’t have it.
If you want very high quality fakes of prestige brands (Louis Vuitton bags for instance), ask the vendor for a catalogue, and they will get the item for you after you have haggled. To avoid copyright infringement, those premium brands are never displayed or kept in the stores but are certainly available on request, sourced from hidden locations in the building. Read about more market in china