Beijing Travel Forum

Hello,
I have two questions about shopping.

1.Is it possible to have someone with good handwriting write a personal message in calligraphy and get it made as a wall scroll? If so, where would be the best place to find it, and how much should I expect to pay??

2. I ate these dried fruits (apricots maybe?) in Harbin called Gan Cao Xing. I wanted to buy some for souvenirs then and there, but my friend insisted they would be everywhere in China. Two weeks and four cities later I can't find them anywhere! Do they exist in Beijing for the last leg of my trip??

Thanks!

2) Managed to find the Chinese characters for that thing, but have no idea where in Beijing you can buy them. Googling in Chinese turned up a whole host of articles about this snack being pulled off the shelves as it was somehow "unsafe". Good luck!

Getting a personal message into calligraphy and onto a wall scroll should be easy even if you do not speak Chinese (I do not.). The only problem might be the question of how correctly the Chinese will express your message. If you can not read Chinese how can you know for sure what the characters mean?

So your first step might be to have the message written in Chinese by several Chinese and then have others check them by translating them back to you. Many Chinese young people can do this even if they speak no English. You could then choose whichever one seems to convey most reliably your message and/or has the potential to look most beautiful.

The cost will depend on the size, quality of the scroll and your ability to negotiate. You can pay as much as you like. I am sure that you are aware that there is a danger that you might be asked for some exorbitant prices. This is especially likely in the area I will recommend below.

In Beijing I would suggest you go to Liulichang. This is a street shopping area just southwest of Qianmen. (Go south from the Hepingmen metro station on the street Nan Xinhua Jie past the school to the small cross street area with lots of shops. Check this street out in both directions. (OR according to one guide book, you might go to the area by buses #14,15 or 66)

I suggest this area because many, if not most, of the shops have active painters and calligraphers on site. You can compare quality, style and price (after some negotiation)all in one little area. You will see that price drops quickly as you shop and demonstrate that you will not pay the first asking price. You might find one of the several small shops at the far western end - actually around the corner - particularly attractive both for price and setting because they seem to be one person owner-calligrapher shops. Also, because you are at the end of the street they generally know better than to initially ask for outlandish prices like you will hear at bigger shops.

Good luck, bob PS: If you like to photograph, try to remember to take of picture of the artist doing your scroll.

1 I think you may find dried fruits in almost all supermarket, but I don't know whether there has what you want(apricots).

2 I think that Mr. melosh is right, Liulichang is one of your choices. I had visited there several times.

first I'll answer number 2. You should be able to find them at a supermarket most likely, but I usually avoid those and head for the farmers markets that are scattered around the city. There the food is cheaper, a little dirtier, and usually more of a selection of everything you want and then lots of surprises along the way.
For question 1 I would suggest picking up a copy of "the Insider's Guide to Beijing" because they have a GIANT directory of shopping in Beijing. I mean everything is in there from custom made clothing, scrolls to fake everything to real everything. The book is in english AND there are addresses in chinese characters to show the taxi driver where you want to go.

good luck