Liulichang Culture Street

Located to the south of Hepingmen, the fascinating Liulichang Culture Street is the oldest street in Beijing. With brightly painted doors and eaves and gracefully curved black-tile-roofs buildings, a little of old Beijing's lifestyle retained here. Lilichang is 750m long with a long history from Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Now, there are dozens of shops here, and it is really a good place to these who love Chinese curios, calligraphy, painting or other artwork. For visitors who are not interested in buying such items, a stroll down the street is still the introduction to the many and varied facets to Chinese traditional arts and scholarship. Liulichang derives its name from the Chinese for "Colored Glaze Factory". The factory kiln was situated in this area as, during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, there were an abundance of residences and palaces for merchants and officials, as well as temple complexes, all requiring beautiful glazed tiles for their roofs.

Liulichang was divided into eastern and western sections in 1927 with the construction of the Hepingmen Gate in Beijing's city walls. The eastern section of Liulichang became know for it's abundance of shops selling antiques and curios while the western section became known for its famous book stores, such as the Shanghai Commercial Press, China Publishing House, Youzheng Press and many others. Liulichang was extensively renovated and reopened as a "cultural street", with a large variety of shops selling traditional Chinese artwork and the four treasures of the ancient scholar opening along it's length.
Location: Outside Hepingmen of Beijing from Yanshousi Street in the east to Nanbeiliu Lane in the west with Nanxinhua Street in the middle. The total length is 750 meter.
Entrance Fee: Free
Opening Hours: Daily 9am – 6pm