Shenyang: Shopping Paradise
As the Capital of Liaoning Province and the center of the Northeast China, Shenyang is very developed in business and commerce. Shenyang is the shopping, commercial center and the wholesale distribution headquarter of the Northern China.
Local specialties include tea and ginseng, gems and amber, carvings and paintings.
The major shopping centre of Shenyang is in the Taiyuan Jie area near the Traders Hotel, where stalls display fashionable clothes, souvenirs and pretty paintings. Another shopping area is the Zhong Jie, a newly paved street dotted with flowers and neon lights, by the northern gate of the Imperial Palace. Retail shops, department stores as well as a bookstore and some nosheries are to be found there. Antiques and curio lovers should try the Shenyang Eastern Folk Art Exchange City on Youhao Jie, which has a wide range of traditional Chinese Folk Arts and crafts products, such as teapots, porcelain, carvings and jewelry. You can even find some interesting exotic objects such as Egyptian papyrus and Korean celadon. Similar exhibitions can also be found in the Imperial Palace, the Liaoning Antique Shop on Chaoyang Lu and the Nanhu Antique Market, north of the west gate of the Nanhu Park
Zhong Jie -- The Central Street Shopping Area
The Central Street, "Zhong Jie" in Chinese, is Shenyang's commercial district which has a long history, Zhong jie used to be the center of the old Shenyang City, which has a history of hundreds of years and is a relatively traditional shopping area.
Zhong Jie has been a commercial area integrating trade, catering, recreation, entertainment, tourism into one entity. On both sides of the thousand-meter long street, there are more than one hundred enterprises, such as businesses, food and drinks, cultural recreations.
The fountains and sculptures make the street attractive during the day.The neon lights give it a lively atmosphere in the evenings.
Dongya Commercial Plaza is the largest plaza on the street, Shenyang Commercial City, the Top Glory Plasa (Peng Li Square), New Mart of the Dalian Commercial Group are the major comprehensive shopping stores in this area.
Tai Yuan Street Commercial Shopping Area
Tai Yuan Street was originally a street name near the former Shenyang South Railway Station in the now central area of Shenyang City. Now it is one of the most popular shooping area more modern than the Zhongjie Shopping Area. Shoppers shouldn't miss Taiyuan Commercial Street because it is a famous trading street full of shops and stores. At present,Tianyuan Street has more than 200 shops,including such famous shops as Zhongxing Commercial Buildng,Shenyang New World Department Store and so on.
Taiyuan Street has 400,000 daily customers and is called as "Shopping Heavy". So far,Taiyuan Street is drawing the attention of many merchants.The retail king Walmart,Times Wamer,Taiwan Buynow,Germany OBL,UK HOLA,pacific Department Store and so on have settled in Taiyuan Street,A new and modem business street is erecting.
Wu Ai Market -- Clothes Distribution Headquarter
Wuai Market is the biggest commodities wholesale center in the north of China enjoying good reputation at home and abroad.it covers an area of 139,000m2 and has 300,000 daily customers(400,00 on festivals)and approximately 20 billion YUAN annual sales.it is mainly engaged in dresses, shoes, caps, groveries, knitgoods,cloth materials, boxes,home appliances,gifts, daily sundry goods,beauty and hairdressing rticles, small foods, bedding goods and so on, totaling 14 big categories and more than 20,000 small classes.
There are four sections in the market area.Shenyang Wuai market south section, another name Wuai shopping town, occupies land over 10,000 ŠO. Level 1 to 4 are business hall, level 5 to 8 are warehouse. There are three automatic elevators, two big goods lifts, it has all kinds of equipment, such as central conditioning, automatically fire control system and night industry management. It provides a safe, stable, convenient and comfortable environment for both of operators and customers.
Beishi Antique Market
Beishi Antique Market, located in the Huangsi Temple Square near the new Shenyang North Railway Station, is a very old and well-known antiques trading market. The whole area covers five streets which integrate traditional culture, an old city flavour with a modern culture.
It is interesting for visitors to browse and explore in the very old and dark-looking apartment. There are stores and stands of jewelrys, jade, fine stones, chinese painting, crafts etc. and everything strange. Most antiques are fake, but you can buy cheapest jewelry which you do not want to afford in big store.
Xita Street -- a City without Night
Xita Street is the biggest street in China with Korean People's amorous feelings and is the ethnic-featured region where there are many Korean-invested enterprises.Food, entertainment,trade,special flavor snack,famous tea,singing and dancing all gather here,so Xita Street is called as "City without Night"and is the pleasing place for entertainment at night.
Sanhao Street: Shenyang's "Silicon Valley"
Sanhao Street is the only computer market titled with"Silicon Vally "in China and "China Computer Sortware City".It has more than 10 technology and commerce buildings such as Digital Times Plaza,Northeast China University Alpine Computer World Plaza,Tewei Building and so on and more than 1,000 technological shops.lt focuses on the R&D, sale of software,AV products and other products relating to computer.lt is called as"Silicon Valley"and is one of the Top 5 computer markets in China.Sanhao Street has been the well-known lT product distribution center in China and it has more than 3,200 enterprises.
Nanta Shoes City -- "China Shoes City"
China shoes City is the famous and professional shoes wholesaoes marktr, it covers an area of 390,000 and has more than 3,000 booths and 60,000 customers per day (100,000 customers in the midseason). It has complite varieties of shoes,whether high-class,mid-class or low-class.The goods in it radiates over each comer of China,even over North Korea, Mongolia, Russia and some countries in East Europe.
Daxi Electronics Market
Daxi Electronics Market is located in the hinterland of Shenynag's business zone. It is the most centralized electronics distribution center in Northeast China.lt covers an area of 12,000 and has 640 million YUAN annual sales.lt fovuses on wholesaoe and the retail is the second. It is mainly engaged in home appliances, Electronic components, hardware, lamps, totaling 4big categories and more than 30,000 small classes.The products of Dai radiate over Northeast China, lnner Mongolia, Shandong,Hebei and so on.
Tiexi China Furniture City
China Furniture city in Shenyang is one of the biggest furniture centers in China.it covers an area of 360,000. It is mainly engaged in decoration materials,furniture,home appliances,sanitary ware and so on ,totaling more than 600,000 classes.lts annual sale reaches more than 3 billion YUAN and its products radiate over Northeast China.lnner Mongolia, Hebei, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and so on.
Shopping Tips in Shenyang
Bargaining
Bargaining is generally not possible in department stores, but ask for a discount when purchasing expensive items with cash, such as electrical appliances and jewellery. Prices can fluctuate wildly from shop to shop. Bargaining is usually possible and often expected in smaller shops, particularly where items are not visibly priced. Food stallholders usually charge fixed prices. Bargaining requires time and patience-most vendors have plenty of both and will appreciate your efforts if you are genuinely interested in buying and can maintain a sense of humor in the process. If you can speak just a few words of Chinese, such as numbers, you will enjoy the experience a lot more and often get a better deal. In China it is possible, if not expected, to bargain in open markets and other shopping areas where prices are not already clearly marked. The goal always is to pay the local price, not the foreigner price. The only important rule is to be polite. It is perfectly fine to ask for a discount, but do it with a smile. While some would see a tough attitude as the key to a cheap price, it usually backfires with the "face" conscious Chinese and you end up not getting the bestprice. Remember that no vendor will sell you a product at a loss!
Special Attention
First of all, if you see something that you have never seen for sale before and it is something you would really like to buy, DON'T assume that because you see it one day that it will be there the next. If it is a good price and you want it, buy it. It may never be available again.
Next, if you are looking for imported products, such as cream cheese or breakfast cereals, those can only be found at a few stores which cater to foreign customers, such as Carrefour, Riverside Garden Supermarket, and Civic Moon near Riverside Garden. You can expect to pay a bit more for these products but it is worth it when you want cranberry sauce with your Thanksgiving turkey dinner or cream cheese to make a cheese cake!
The wholesale food market is a great place to buy in bulk and to get a cheaper price. A myriad of other products are also available there, from fabric to spices! It is a great place to go and scout to see what is available. But beware of "fake" name brand items. Look carefully at labels to make sure it is really the genuine product.
Virtually any kind of fresh fruit, vegetable or meat is available here, especially in the local open markets. And relationships are everything here so once you have established a relationship with a seller you can trust it is best to continue to do business with that person so that you are sure you are getting a fair price.
"One Stop Shopping" is actually possible here now and you can even stop at McDonald's or KFC for a bite to eat before heading home after a productive shopping spree!
