Liulichang Cultural Street

Liulichang Cultural Street Market is a fun stroll and specializes in all kinds of Chinese crafts and art works, located in southwest of Qianmen and near to the Hepingmen Gate. Most foreigners love to visit Liulichang Cultural Street when they travel to Beijing. The 800 meters long east-west street is a traditional market of old and rare books, antiques, paintings, calligraphy and arts & crafts. It is one of two streets that still keep the appearance of a Qing Dynasty market street and a cool place for those who want to shop or just have a look at the street and architectures. In the Liao Dynasty, Liulichang was not in the urban area but the outskirt, named "Sea King Village". Later, in Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court set up imperial porcelain kilns here to fire liuliwa, "glazed tiles"/The firing site was eventually moved to Mentougou, but the name Liulichang was kept and passed down till now.

This area became popular in the Qing Dynasty for the contestants of the Imperial Examination gathered and lived here. Hence, lots of bookstores and stationery stores sprang up in Liulichang area, which dressed the street wth a doctrinal and cultural atmosphere. It is an artistic centre of Beijing, a place for scholars and poets to gather together and work on their art during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Naturally, it had soon become to be a mercantile centre for art works, rare books and restaurants. By the time of the Kangxi Period (1661 – 1722), it had become the cultural centre of China. When Emperor Qianlong began a project to update the "Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature", the scholars involved soon made Liulichang the main hub for their research in literary criticism and evaluation. Lots of the famous arts and calligraphers in the past gathered in Liulichang and still.

Nowadays, the shops there were all renovated during the 1980's, so that they all have the appearance of an authentic Qing Dynasty market. There are lots of famous stores in Liulichang cultural Street, including Rongbaozhai and China bookstop which are ideal place to buy authentic paintings and caligraphy. The first private museum in China was opened here exhibiting a great number of art works from porcelain to antique furniture and carpets belonging to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Liulichang Culture Street Market is not only a nice tourist attaction but also a wise street to have a walk. Here's some guide information of Liulichang Cultural Street Market
Location: Liulichang, Xuanwu District, Beijing         Opening hours: 08:00-21:00        Ticktes: Free          Contact number: +86 10 51664255