Wangfujing Street, Beijing

Is Wangfujing Street worth visiting?

Yes — as an easy evening after Tiananmen Square or the Forbidden City, not as a shopping destination in itself. The wide pedestrian avenue is pleasant to walk, St Joseph's Church is one of the most photogenic buildings in central Beijing, and the retro food hall under the department store is fun for an hour. You can eat Peking duck at the oldest name in the business without hunting for a table near the square.

What Wangfujing isn't any more is the street-food circus that made it famous. The exotic skewer stalls closed years ago, and the shops are mostly the same international and Chinese chains you'll find in any big mall. If you came for old Beijing atmosphere and snacks in a lane, Nanluoguxiang suits you better; if you're staying nearby, Wangfujing is a fine way to spend an evening.

What is Wangfujing?

Wangfujing (王府井大街) is Beijing's best-known shopping street, in Dongcheng District just east of the Forbidden City. It runs north from Chang'an Avenue for about 1.8 km to Wusi Street; the southern 900 m or so is pedestrianised and lined with department stores, malls, bookshops, tea shops and old Beijing brands. Locals call it the Golden Street.

Trade here goes back to the Ming dynasty. The name joins “wangfu”, the princely mansions that stood along the street under the Ming and Qing, and “jing”, a sweet-water well. Early-20th-century foreigners knew it as Morrison Street, after the Australian journalist who lived here. Cars were banned in 1999–2000, and buses were moved to the side streets.

What to see on Wangfujing Street

• St Joseph's Church (王府井天主堂, Dongtang, No. 74) — founded in 1655; the current Romanesque church with three bell towers dates from 1904. The tree-lined square in front, with benches, is a good place for a break.
• The well cover set in the pavement — a bronze marker for the well that gave the street its name. Its inscription says the well was buried in the 1920s and rediscovered during the 1998 rebuild.
• Beijing Department Store (No. 255), opened in 1955, and Heping Guoju on its second basement level — a recreated old-Beijing street of more than 2,400 m² with a photo studio, pharmacy, grocer's and snack counters.
• Wangfujing Bookstore (No. 218), a big Xinhua branch. The famous Foreign Languages Bookstore (No. 235) is closed: its building is being demolished and rebuilt, with no reopening date announced.
• The Paleolithic museum under Oriental Plaza by metro Exit A — Stone Age remains found when the mall was built. We couldn't confirm its current hours, so check on the day.
• Quanjude — the oldest Peking duck brand, with a branch on the pedestrian street.
• Arts and Crafts Building (工艺美术大厦) — traditional crafts and intangible-heritage works, a better bet for quality souvenirs than the street stalls.

Is the Wangfujing night market still open?

No. The famous Donghuamen Night Market, a long row of red-awninged stalls on the street of that name, closed in 2016. The Wangfujing Snack Street (王府井小吃街), a courtyard of more than a hundred stalls at No. 277 that opened in 2000, closed for redevelopment in 2019. The city's plan was to turn it into an indoor “Golden Street lounge” with cafés and snack shops. We found no official reopening, and recent unofficial guides say the old lane is gone.

Some websites still list opening hours for both — they are out of date. If a guide promises scorpions on sticks at Wangfujing, it was written before these closures.

What to eat on Wangfujing

Heping Guoju in the basement of the Beijing Department Store is where the street's snack culture lives on, with counters of old-Beijing snacks. Look for lüdagun (rolled sticky rice with bean paste), tanghulu (candied hawthorns), Beijing yoghurt in ceramic pots and douzhi, a sour mung-bean drink that locals love. Quanjude serves Peking duck, and the lower floors of Oriental Plaza and Joy City have food courts for a quick, cheap meal.

Paying is easy for foreign visitors: Alipay and WeChat Pay both link to a foreign Visa or Mastercard after passport verification, and the district says the big malls here accept foreign cards directly. Carry a few small yuan notes for stalls that can't give change.

Wangfujing, Nanluoguxiang or Shanghai's Nanjing Road?

Pick Wangfujing for big stores and an evening after Tiananmen, Nanluoguxiang for old-Beijing lanes and street food. Nanjing Road is longer and ends at Shanghai's riverfront.

Nearby and on the way

44

National Museum of China

Beijing, China

2 h 30 min · Free, passport booking · 21 min walk

Yes — add to my route: National Museum of China

49

Tiananmen Gate

Beijing, China

45 min · ¥15, concession ¥5, booking only · 22 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Tiananmen Gate

61

Forbidden City

Beijing, China

3 h 30 min · ¥40 Nov–Mar, ¥60 Apr–Oct · 23 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Forbidden City

68

Tiananmen Square

Beijing, China

45 min · Free, passport booking · 24 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Tiananmen Square

How to do it right

• Come late afternoon: the street is quiet after the Forbidden City closes, and it livens up once the lights come on at dusk.
• See St Joseph's Church on a weekday before 11:00 or after 14:00 — at weekends you can only go in for Mass.
• Leave the Forbidden City by the east gate, Donghuamen — it's the closest exit to Wangfujing.
• Street-stall souvenirs cost more than the same things in the malls — haggle or compare two or three shops first.
• Keep your phone and wallet close in the evening crowds.
• Politely decline friendly “students” who invite you to a tea ceremony or art show — it's a common scam in China's tourist spots, ending with a huge bill.
• For clean toilets, use the malls along the street: Oriental Plaza, Joy City or the department store.

Questions