On my visit to the fifth floor of Bairong World Trade Center, a shop full of decorations reflecting rural people and the old Beijing image caught my eye. I didn't hesitate to step in.

A shop assistant greeted me and told me that this was the wholesale department of Xiangrong Art Studio. This venue features two rooms - one for pottery decorations, the other for paintings. All the works here are made by folk artists.

I liked their decorations, for they reminded me of the old Beijing. Some of their displays are miniature gates of the old Beijing courtyards. I spent my childhood in a traditional courtyard not far from Tian’anmen Square, so these miniature gates really brought back old memories. The grey bricks, the wooden gates, the gate piers, even the patches of moss, are all reminiscent of my old life long gone now. Miniature courtyard gates were priced at RMB 150 or 180.

A miniature village courtyard looked lovely too. The enclosure was built of stones, and on the front wall of the cottage hung strings of golden maize and red peppers. The villagers, made of pottery, looked quite happy in their simple clothes.

Each of their items is original and unique, so I bet you will not regret taking a visit to this outlet.

What I appreciated

Folk art, original design

What customers appreciate

The old Beijing style, and rural style

Known as the "health-giving tea" and "beauty-slimming tea" in China, Puer tea is something you won't regret trying out. This famous tea from the Yunnan province of southern China gives you both taste and health benefits.

For tea-loving tourists, the large Yunnan Pu'er Tea Market offers convenient location near the Tian'anmen Square. It is here on the second floor where I found Leyuanyu Pu'er Tea Shop.

The shopkeeper, Mr. Wang, warmly invited me to sit down and sample their fermented and unfermented teas. Decorated with unique items from the hometown of Pu’er tea, Leyuanyu provided me a great tea-tasting experience. The stone elephants, wooden decorations, and green plants soon led me into a relax state. Fermented tea looks red, and tastes kinda sweet. Unfermented tea looks like amber. They taste somewhat bitter at first, but give a sweet after-taste.

Mr. Wang said all their Pu'er tea comes from naturally grown trees without any human interference. They offer two famous brands: "National Chinese" and "Image of Washan Mountain". The former has won many prizes in Pu'er tea competitions.

Looking around, I found a wide variety of compressed Pu’er tea on display. The compressed nature makes them easy to carry. Some even come in nice small packages fit for presents or souvenirs. Prices are reasonable. One particular 250g "Tea Horse Ancient Road Pu’er Brick Tea" cost only RMB 50, for instance.

What I appreciated

Quality Pu'er tea, a wide variety to choose from

What customers appreciate

Prize-winning Pu'er tea, natural and health-giving tea

Huo Shu Tang: a snapshot of China’s finest handicrafts

As the Chinese place much emphasis on meanings behind objects, one of the best ways to discover China is to know Chinese handicrafts. Handicrafts are like kaleidoscopes, through which you can see the richness of Chinese culture.

Huo Shu Tang, though a small shop, offers more than 100 types of ethnic handicrafts from all over China, most of which are rarely seen. Items here include cloth works, batiks, bean arrangements, clay figurines, paper-cuts, shadow puppets, and embroideries. All of them are made by highly skilled craftsmen.

I found myself amused by a clay work of a thumb (RMB 300), which featured a tiny frog at the tip. It turned out to be a prize-winning work in the shop, and it means “approval and appreciation”. I also appreciated a cute bean arrangement work named “Countryside Chophouse” (RMB 280), which used beans in various sizes, shapes and colors to feature people, animals, and other objects.

Prices vary quite a bit. For example, a cloth tiger costs RMB 30, while a fine piece of jade engraving costs several thousand RMBs.

The shop owner is an interesting person who speaks a little English.

What I appreciate

A wide variety of handicrafts, the bean arrangement works

What customers appreciate

Exquisite Chinese handicrafts, quality service

When you’re having guests over for dinner, it’s always nice to use some fine dinnerware. And “Between Earth and Sky”, located inside Hongqiao market in south Beijing, offers some strange ideas.

The shop carries a nice collection of dishware with very unique designs. First, the shapes are not your typical round ones. They may resemble leaves, little boats,  and other things. In fact, the shopkeeper Ms. Liu told me the shape is anything that comes to the designers’ mind.

Black, white, and Purple-red glazes are applied to each piece, giving them distinctive shines. Chinese calligraphy engraved adds a sense of culture. I have personally never seen anything like this before.

In addition to dinnerware, the shop also offers a variety of tea sets and cups.

Prices range from RMB 30 to RMB 3,000. Ms. Liu speaks fluent English for easy communication.

What I appreciate

A plate engraved with a Tang emperor poem

What customers appreciate

Nice dishware, quality service

The art of straw-weaving, which has been seen on potteries as early as 6000 years ago, is considered an essential element of Chinese culture.

Straw-weaving Workshop, nested in the southern part of downtown Beijing, offers this special form of art. Here you’ll find straws weaved into different animals, such as birds, beasts, and insects. They all looked amazingly lovely and lifelike.

Although I don’t really like snakes, I couldn’t help but admire the piece on it, which looked very detailed. A pair of cranes also caught my attention, because of how hard it was to create their slim bodies and lively postures.,

When I asked the shop manager, Ms. Chen, what are the popular items, she showed me a straw-weaving of a large dragon. This made sense, as the dragon is considered the most power animal in Chinese legends.

The workshop makes all items themselves. Their master is very renowned, and has won numerous handicraft awards.

Prices here range from RMB 20 for a cicada to RMB300 for a dragon. Ms. Chen speaks a little English. No need to worry about a communicating.

What I appreciate

Beautiful straw weavings of crane and dragon

What customers appreciate

Dragon weavings, quality service

A small porcelain shop recently opened on the north side of Di’anmen Dongdajie. It’s easily recognizable, with its white signboard which shows the shop name “Chunny Ceramics”. Their catchphrase, written in Chinese characters, was “We produce practical works of art”. I went inside to check it out.

The wooden shelves show various uniquely shaped ceramics, including sculptures, vessels, home decorations, tea sets, wall decorations, and necklaces. The shopkeeper, Mr. Li, told me that all of their products are designed by professional artisans in Jingdezhen, the famous ceramics capital of China.

He also said that each item is uniquely handmade. If you buy one cup, you can be sure that there’s no other cup in the world like it. To check, I looked at their ceramics one by one carefully, and found that each one really did look different from others.

The cups I picked up had irregular small pits on the surface, but my fingers fit around the pits comfortably. That’s when I realized that this cup was designed this way.

One cup usually costs RMB 10 - 20. Note that nearly each cup bears their registered brand name “Chun Ni”, which means “Spring Soil” in English.

They also accept customer requests. If you have a particular idea in mind, they can design and make a custom ceramic work in about 20 days. Two assistants who can speak some English ensure smooth communication.

What I appreciated

Original design, one piece one style

What customers appreciate

Distinct ceramics, good for gift and souvenir

Paper-cuttings are pictures cut from paper, using scissors or blades. It has been around in China for about two thousand years. People generally paste these patterns on windows, lanterns, or doors to express the feelings of joy and life values. They look both beautiful and interesting, and are widely popular among Chinese.

On the north side of Di’anmen East Street, a paper-cutting shop recently opened. Its name, Jinyi, means ‘Golden Art’ in English.

When I stepped into the shop yesterday afternoon, the shopkeeper Mr. Zhao greeted me at once. He hails from Yuxian, a county near Beijing nicknamed ‘the village of paper-cuttings’. Mr. Zhao’s grandpa started making paper-cuttings, and now Mr. Zhao is the third generation in the family business.

He told me that a single paper-cutting usually features just one color, but can be layered to have a variety of patterns. Take the piece that depicted cows grazing on grass, for instance. You can see four colors, one on top of another: yellow, brown, green and black. This elaborate work, which cost 480 yuan, required four times the work of a single piece.

They also have small items ideal for gifts or souvenirs, like a set of 12 Chinese zodiac animals which opens up like a pamphlet (RMB 10). A finely-cut miniature Emperor’s robe cost only RMB 3. They even have paper portraits of Einstein and Mona Lisa.

Mr. Zhao added that there will be an artisan making paper-cuttings on spot every day. Customers can learn the basics of the art free of charge. They also take custom orders.

What I appreciated

Folk handicraft, elaborate paper-cut works

What customers appreciate

Traditional works of art by hand, superb workmanship

Purple clay from the county of Yixing is considered the best natural material for making tea sets. Their purple clay teapots can abundantly release your tea's aroma and keep it from going tasting bad better than any other material.

On my visit to Chayuan Tea City at the south end of Maliandao Tea Street yesterday afternoon, I found some user-friendly purple clay tea cups in a shop (No. A2-10) named Qingyi, which literally means "Affection" in English.

As I set my eyes upon the tea cups shown on the shelves, a shop assistant started telling me about the twelve Chinese zodiac animal cups originally designed by the shopkeeper, Mr. Chen.

I picked up a chocolate-colored one with a miniature rooster on the cover. When I opened the lid, to my surprise, I found a purple clay interlayer stuck in the middle. Inside stood another miniature rooster. This layer has many small, round holes that allow tea to pass through and keep the leaves at the bottom. So don’t worry about accidently drinking any leaves.

Prices for all of their tea cups range from 20 to 120 yuan. For teapots, the prices vary greatly by quality, from 50 to 16,000 yuan. In addition, you can find a variety of tea ceremony accessories, and some famous Chinese teas too.

Another middle-aged shopkeeper used to be a tour guide, and can speak English.

What I appreciated

Purple clay tea cups originally designed by shop keeper, reasonable prices

What customers appreciate

User-friendly purple clay tea cups, Chinese teas and tea sets

Porcelain comes in various types: celadon, sancai, blue-and-white, to name a few. One of priciest type is called ‘Yao Bian Ci’ or ‘transmutation-glaze porcelain’.

JingDeZhen Ceramics, located near the Forbidden City, offers a fine selection of ‘Yao Bian Ci’. The ‘Yao Bian’ craftwork, originated from Song Dynasty 800 years ago, involves burning mixture of glaze into silica, lime, or copper ore-rich glasses at high temperatures. After the spontaneous and irregular changing process, it is impossible to have two vessels with the same color.

At the shop I saw many ‘Yao Bian Ci’ vases, jars for home and office decoration. One is a globular, red-purple splashed vase. The splash looks like a waterfall. There are only two vases of this kind. One is in the Great Hall of the People, and the other at the shop. It is the most expensive vase inside, with a RMB 400, 000 price tag.

I also found a variety of goblets in the shop. The amazing thing about the goblet is that when it is filled with wine, an image of beautiful lady would appear at the bottom. It sells for around RMB 100.

The owner, Mr. Yu, speaks a little English. Communication is not a problem.

What customers appreciate

Unique products

What I appreciate

Unique products

The ancient land of Himalaya captures the souls of many who have ever or never been there. So  I was thrilled to find a shop in Beijing offering handicrafts from that mystical region.

BaZha Tribe in the Drum Tower area carries a wide variety of daily products from Nepal, Pakistan, India, Tibet, and even Russia. Although everyday items there, these are rarely found elsewhere in the world.

Ms. Ma, the owner, was a former tourism editor. She introduced me to a collection of Pakistani products: a peach-wood fruit tray, boat-shape bowl with a complex floral design, and a candleholder that looks like a grape vine. Prices range from RMB 250 to RMB 1500.

Personally, I liked the Nepalese woolen scarves and shawls. Handmade in a small town near Nepal’s capital Katmandu, they are colorful, soft, and decorated with intricate motifs. Each sells around RMB 300. They are also the best seller at BaZha Tribe.

Products from Tibet include necklaces, rings, bracelets, prayer wheels, and Tangkas. Prices vary a lot, from RMB 30 to RMB 2000.

Ms. Ma speaks fluent English and French, and often travels to Himalaya region. She’d love to tell you a story or two about the region.

What I appreciate

Nepal shawls and scarves

What customers appreciate

Beautiful products, quality service