Wangfujing Commercial Area

After a construction face-lift, the 700-year-old Wangfujing (the Well of the Princes Mansion) Street or Golden Street, one of China¡¯s oldest and most famous commercial areas, was meant to be well-known in the world through the renovation, look brand new to people on September 11, 1999 when it opened to the public. The Wangfujing Street lives up to its glorious past, but with a new look. To give it a new look they completely got rid of the street¡¯s poor infrastructure at a price ofover 1 billion yuan (US$ 120.5 million). The new infrastructure can sustain the commercial area of 300 square metres to run smoothly for 50 years, with specially designed supplies of electricity, water, gas, communications and transportation. Along the 810-metre-long street and in an area of about 810 square metres are over 200 shops. A 60-member clean-up team for a single commercial area might have been remarkable in scale in Beijing, but expecting them to keep 500,000 visitors, the estimated average daily volume of visitors in the area; to keep the area clean was just unrealistic. The new street can also provide convenience for pedestrians and motorists alike. Take the transportation as an example. Gone for good are the old days of narrow streets jam-packed with people. The area has no problems at its entry and exit even with a half million people and 1,020 vehicles. Also, in spite of being modern and new, the renovated Wangfujing Street has retained its traditional cultural atmosphere. The street is a kind of beauty perfectly combining tradition, modernity, culture and commerce. With a group of sculptures depicting the lives of the people of Beijing in the old times was established before the modern Sun Dong An Plaza, a 70-square-metre relief sculpture recalling the operation of the 12 old famous shops in the area was set on the southern wall of the Women¡¯s Department Store. Also the ancient well, from which the street got its name, was also symbolically restored.

The street came into being in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) more than 700 years ago. Wangfujing Street is said to have received its name in the Ming Dynasty more than 500 year ago. One of the emperors was said to want all his 10 brothers to build their mansions in the place now known as Wangfujing so as to make it easy for him to keep a wary eye on them for fear that they might post a direct threat to him. Therefore, the street was then named Shiwangfu, meaning mansions for 10 imperial brothers. Nowadays, the street is one of the busy shopping areas in Beijing. There are more than 200 shops on the 810-metre-long street from Nankou of Wangfujing to Jinyu (Goldfish) Hutong (Lane). Touristrs love to go shopping here. Within 8 years from 1992 to 1999, 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) was spent on renovating the whole Wangfuijing Street, and shops with more than 1.8 million square metres of all kinds of buildings along the street. According to statistics, before 1992, the highest flow of visitors numbered 450,000 every day in Wangfujing Street. Every day about 200,000 shoppers came to Beijing Department Store. To change the situation, the Beijing municipal government decided to restore all the shops and the street so that they can attract more people to come to the street reputed as a ¡°golden street¡± by the people of Beijing.

Wangfujing Street has presented a shining new face after the second phase of its ectension project was completed in September 11, 2000. The traffic conditions in the Wangfujing area have been greatly improved thanks to the construction of new roads, such as the Department Store West Road, running parallel to Wangfujing, and the expansion of old ones like Dengshikou Xijie Street, which runs perpendicular to Wangfujing. More than 330 public and private buildings have been removed to make way for roads, trees and lawns . Donghuamen night fair, the centre of the street, has received a face-lift and serves as a food court for visitors. The 340-million-yuan (US$41 million) project aims to make Wangfujing Street the capital¡¯s biggest shopping centre. The street has been extended from 810 metres to 1,150 metres (Wangfujing Nankou to Dengshi Xikou), and expanded to include shopping, entertainment, tourism and business. According to the practices of developed countries, places for entertainment and tourism should occupy half of the commercial centre as a whole; Wangfujing was brought up to this standard after renovation. The Jinyu (Goldfish) Hutong on the east side of the street has been turned into an avenue of hotels and restaurants, while a back street on the west side has been built into a street of snack bars and was reopened to the public on September 11, 2000.

The OrientalPlaza has a 100,000-square-metre shopping centre. Wangfuing area has become the city¡¯s central business district because of its easy access to major roads, high land prices and high density of retail and service business, as well as its high degree of population flow. Nowadays, the Wangfujing area has been formed naturally in the city¡¯s centre, in much the same way as most central business distructs have sprung up in other international cities.
At present, there are five major commercial areas such as Wangfujing commercial area, Xidan commercial area, Dazhalan commercial area, Longfusi commercial area and Chaoyangmenwai commercial area.

Xidan Commercial Area

Xidan¡¯s commercial street has stretched 1,300 metres from the Xidan Crossroads to Xisi, with a width of 70 metres. A group of corridors has been built between various shops, business centres and office buildings. And has become a hub for clothes vendors, as are the two underground floors in the Xidan subway station. The New Xidan Street is mainly composed of special shops with famous brands and stores for high-tech products, including computers, software and telecommunication-related commodities. The street concentrates on the development of entertainment, recreation, and food, and drinking sectors. It is one of the major shopping centres in the western part of Beijing. What strong appeal Xidan offers to consumers is bustling commercial atmosphere. The area has been transformed from a traditional commercial marketplace into a comprehensive commercial area bringing catering, entertainment, culture, tourism, finance, hotels, real estate and telecommunications together with commerce at the core. Xidan Food Market, the Snack Centre, the Kangle Sports Centre and the National Product Sales Centre will be built in Xidan commercial area in the next five years. The lighting system has been upgraded and more greener land added.

At present, there are eight large markets in the area, including Xidan Market, Xidan CVIK Store, Xidan Shopping Centre, and Zhongyou Department Store. Xidan Market ranked first in Beijing for several years in a row in terms of annual sales. It is one of China¡¯s top five large markets in terms of sales volume. Xidan Market received 500,000 consumers during the four holiday weeks of the year.

Beijing Mall¡ªthe largest shopping mall in Beijing
Beijing Mall, to date the largest shopping mall in Beijing, laid its foundation on November 30, 2001 in the southeast area of the capital. Neighbouring the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway, Beijing Mall encompasses 36.62 hectares (90.49 acres) with a planned building area of 600,000 square metres. Developed by Beijing Dadi Investment Co Ltd, the total investment is estimated at 3.3 billion yuan (US$ 397 million). The Mall is composed of three parts¡ªfor shopping, entertainment and recreation¡ªand will open for business on National Day (October 1 ) holiday in 2003.