Qianmen Street by Day

This afternoon is a leisurely afternoon, and after resting at the hotel, Jackson took us to Qianmen Street where we will have a McD dinner.

 Located at the central axis of the city, it is a famous pedestrian street. It runs from Jianlou (the Archery Tower) of Zhengyangmen in the north to the turning of Tiantan Park in the south. It is 840 meters (about 919 yards) in length and 21 meters (about 23 yards) in width. It is composed with buildings whose styles resemble the late Qing Dynasty(1644 --- 1911).

 It was called Zhengyangmen Street during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and finally got the present name in 1965. 

It has become one important attraction in our '8-day Trip in Beijing' tour.

Neighboring Attractions, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Hevean, Forbidden City and Da Shi Lar  are worth of visiting while coming to the Qianmen area. 

the other end of Tiananmen Square...you can walk to the Square from here

 After more than one year's renovation, it was reopened on August 7th before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is a symbol of genuine local culture. It has many of China's time-honored names. Visitors can enjoy a traditional Chinese way of life. Moreover, it has many international brands, such as H&M, Haagen-Dazs, Sephora, ZARA, Qggle, COSTS CAFÉ, and SK Jewelry. The most famous of China own names are as follows: Quanjude, Yitiaolong, and Douyichu, and Changchuntang.

Sephora and above, H M 

and you can also find Uniqlo

the other entrance from near our hotel

Dangdang Che(trams)

 Besides, Dangdang Che (trams) is also worthy of being mentioned. They were first introduced to Beijing in 1924, running from Qianmen to Xizhimen. In 1966, they were abandoned. Due to advanced technology, two of them have returned on this street as sightseeing cars. With the same look of the old ones, they start from the opposite ends. Each one can accommodate up to 84 visitors at a time.

 J inside a souvenir shop surrounded by salesgirls who bombard her with rapid fire Mandarin, but not to worry I have equipped her with basic.."duo sau chien"....and to offer them "shi yuan" or 10 yuan for everything!

 Cloisonne is one of the famous arts and crafts of Beijing.Base-hammering, copper-strip inlay, soldering, enamel-filling, enamel-firing, polishing and gilding.....

colourful brooches .... then I was forbidden to take any more photos!!

 " It has history of more than 570 years"...During the Qing Dynasty, there were many specialized outlets on either side of it, such as a meat market, cloth market and jewelry market. And there were also many craftsman workshops, warehouses and theatres in the Hutongs nearby.....

 these shops are housed in traditional style shop houses, replicas of the old ones because they look new

 J chose to shop at SPAO because it is not available in KL unlike H&M or Uniqlo

 clothes were dirt cheap here and she got a hoodie for RM20 or more

 she is wearing her hoodie from SPAO and going into Starbucks for toilet break

 Starbucks in Beijing

 old buildings are still being torn down to make way for new, soon all you will see is the new Beijing

 waiting patiently, not for latte but for toilette

along the main road there are many side roads that sell souvenirs for half the price of what we got 

 twisties 

 bustling side roads

 all sorts of tea time treats

 skewered meat and candied nuts

pan cakes

 tidbits shop

backyard hot pot restaurant

hot pots by the drain

J was so afraid the tour guide will bring us to eat this hot pot as she saw this man pouring the soup in the steamboat by the roadside at the BACKYARD!!!! hahaha!

 then she saw this man selling blobs by the roadside

 she has not seen the blob before...the boy just splat the blob on the cardboard and it bounced back as a piggie face, for 5 yuan it was about 2.50 ringgit and she bought one to tease her friends.