DashilanA ~ Z

Introducing the Dashilan

For Chinese visitors, there are three most famous walking streets in Beijing. According to their fame and popularity, they are Wangfujing Walking Street, the number one walking street in China; Dashilan, the old shopping street with many century old establishments and Liulichang Cultural Street, mainly for antiques and arts. Dashilan, also called Dazhalan, is a 300 meters long, 9 meters wide commercial street with a history of more than 500 years. Dashilan literally means Big Fence or Great Fence in Chinese, because curfews were frequently imposed at night during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. Barriers erected at both ends of the streets and alleys were closed as soon as the curfew came into effect, making passage impossible.

Along the Dashilan Street, there are lots of restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, cinemas, teahouses, century-old establishments and other interesting places. The first theater of Beijing was opened in Dashilan when the Republic of China was just established in 1911. Some of the famous establishments are the Tongrentang Traditional Medicine Shop, which manufactures pills, powders and ointment since 1669; the Dongsheng Hat Shop, opened in 1811 and specialized in producing official’s hats and satin boots for the nobility; the famous Ruifuxiang Satin, Silk and Fur Shop, which opened in 1893. There are also the Neiliansheng Shoemaker's and the Nanyufeng Tobacco Shop, with a history of more than 100 years. Another reason for the popularity of Dashilan in the past was the great number of public entertaining facilities as well as some private brothels, though not officially recorded.

History

In the Ming Dynasty, the name Dashilan was not yet recorded in the work of Zhang Zhupo, “Blocks and Streets in the Five Boroughs of Beijing”. Only Langfang Toutiao, Langfang Ertiao, Langfang Santiao and Langfang Sitiao existed to the west of the road which was outside Qianmen (Front Gate). Langfang Sitiao was located in the same place as the present Dashilan which means that the name “Dashilan” did not exist during the Ming Dynasty. The so-called "Langfang" is often referred to the storerooms along the street. Although the name "Dashilan" was not used in the Ming Dynasty, the place where Dashilan situated was already a flourishing commercial district, with many merchants gathering there. In 1488, in order to maintain public safety in the capital, the imperial court built wooden fences at all the entrances to the streets and lanes in Beijing. The fence was completed with the contributions of local residents, and the total number of the fences was more than 1,700 at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Among them, the fence around Langfang Sitiao Street was funded by the merchants. For this reason, the fence was extremely large and thus got the name “Dashilan”. As time went by, Dashilan gradually became the formal name of the street in replacement of “Langfang Sitiao”. In 1899, Dashilan caught a fire and the wooden fence was burnt to ashes. From then on, the fence has practically disappeared, leaving only the name "Dashilan" itself. In 2000, the Beijing municipal government built a new iron fence at the entrance of Dashilan, and restored most of the shops.

Featured Spots

Tongrentang

Headquartered in Beijing, the Tongrentang Pharmacy is the largest producer of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in China. It was founded in the eighth year (1669) of Qing Emperor Kangxi’s reign by Yue Xianyang who served as a senior physician of the imperial court. Since the first year (1723) of the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, Tongrentang had been designated to provide herbal medicines for the royal pharmacy of the imperial court for a total of 188 years. Tongrentang has established the self-discipline awareness with the motto that we shall do things with our sincerity and trustworthiness even without supervision from others, because God sees, which has guaranteed the prolonged glory of the well-established Tongrentang brand. With unique recipes, top-class raw materials, excellent workmanship and evident curative effect, the products of Tongrentang enjoy a high prestige home and abroad. Tongrentang remains one of the oldest surviving brand names for traditional Chinese medicine, and has wide name-recognition among Chinese and Asians worldwide. It is also one of the world's largest TCM companies, with products sold in countries all over the world.

Duyichu

The most famous Shaomai restaurant in Beijing is Duyichu, which was founded in 1738 during the Qing Dynasty. It was originally only a food stall on the street, and later the owner built a building after making a big profit in 1742. The restaurant is famous for its special Shaomai, made of rice, meat, vegetables and flour. There is an interesting story about the restaurant's name. It is said that on a new year's eve, Qing Emperor Qianlong was returning to the Forbidden City after visiting Tongzhou District. When passing by Qianmen Avenue he noticed there was only one light on. He went in the restaurant and was satisfied with the food very much. By the time he knew the restaurant did not even have a name, he found a brush pen and wrote down three Chinese Characters “Duyichu”, meaning “the only restaurant on service”.

Daoxiangcun

Daoxiangcun is well-known with the local people in Beijing. As one of the capital’s time-honored brands, Daoxiangcun snacks have found their way into the hearts, and stomachs of countless Beijingers. Daoxiangcun is Beijing's most famous brand of traditional local snacks and cakes. It was first established in 1895, so it comes as no surprise to locals to see a long line of customers queuing outside one of the branch stores. There are over a hundred snacks and cakes to choose from, but the one marked with “Eight Treasures of Beijing” is always the best seller. It's bright red gift-box and attractive design makes it perfect for offering good wishes when visiting friends. The Eight Treasures of Beijing includes eight styles of cakes such as candied fritter and jujube flower shortbread cake. When Lantern Festival comes, the glutinous rice dumplings called “Tang Yuan” are always available at Daoxiangcun. Tang Yuan's traditional tastes are considered to be Daoxiangcun’s flagship products. The fillings of Tang Yuan include black sesame from Jiangxi province and coconut from Hainan province. Daoxiangcun has over 100 branches around Beijing. So if you happen to see one, it’s always a good choice to try some of the snacks in Daoxiangcun.

Ruifuxiang

Ruifuxiang Silk Store was established in 1862 by Meng Hongsheng, descendant of Mengzi (Chinese Confucian philosopher). It is one of the time-honored brands and number one silk brand in China. Meng Hongsheng first built up his business by selling hand-woven cloth with the shop named Ranfuxiang. With thriving business, Meng Hongsheng started to set up chain stores in Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin and extended his business to luxury commodities such as silk, satin, tea and furs. Ruifuxiang wins great popularity among customers with genuine goods at a fair price and excellent service. Quality cloth, silk and satins of Ruifuxiang are greatly acclaimed by visitors home and abroad. After the liberation of China 1949, the first Chinese National Flag, Five Star Red flag raised in Tiananmen Square was made of Ruifuxiang silk. In 1954, Ruifuxiang first carried out the new joint state-private ownership, incorporated its five shops into one and became a silk shop mainly selling silk, satin, woolen cloth and furs. The present Ruifuxiang Silk Store maintains its original style and feature.

Quanjude

Among the 41 branches of Quanjude in Beijing, the Qianmen Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant is the oldest one which was established in 1864. After the founding of new China in 1950s, because of its significance, the original wall with the name Quanjude was brought in the dining room of the present restaurant. At the same time, the decorations, tables, bricks and even the stuff are also preserve their original flavor. More than 100 years ago, Mr. Yang Quanren, founder of Quanjude invited imperial chef Master Sun from the imperial court, who helped him develop the hung oven to roast ducks by using completely new processing techniques-something unique to Quanjude. Quanjude roast ducks are made with choice materials. Force-fed ducks no older than 55 days are always selected, with strict control over breed ducks, feed composition and rearing methods, ensuring meat tenderness and freshness. After dozens of procedures, slaughtered ducks are ready for roasting in the unique Quanjude style. The special blazing-fire hung oven with fruit tree firewood is still used to guarantee the quality of each roast duck today. Crispy skin, tender and non-greasy meat is the distinctive taste of Quanjude Roast Duck. When the roast duck is taken out from the oven, a chef will slice it into pieces in front of the diners. The slicing skills are so excellent that they are considered as a visual treat to everyone present. When Chinese people talk about Peking Roast Duck, the first brand comes to their minds is always Quanjude. It is almost the symbol of Peking Roast Duck.

Donglaishun

Donglaishun is a time-honored Muslim restaurant in Beijing famous for Hotpot which was founded by Ding Deshan, a man of Hui Ethnic group. In 1903 of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), he set up a snack stall in Wangfujing Street, the most famous walking street in Beijing. Due to prosperous business, he expanded the stall into a cote named “Donglaishun Porridge Booth”. In 1914, such additional food as quick-fly, toasted and instant-boiled mutton as well as fried dishes were offered in “Donglaishun Porridge Booth”. It was then renamed as Donglaishun Mutton Restaurant which is characterized by the fine materials selecting, delicate processing, complete condiments and strong fire. Mutton used in Donglaishun is taken from small-tail sheep produced in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. More importantly, only several parts of the sheep such as rear leg, after body and spinal flesh are used. At the same time, exquisite skills of cutting mutton are required in the restaurant, with standards as thinness, evenness and uniformity. When served on trays, mutton slices should be translucent to such an extent that patterns of the trays can be seen through them. Because of this, mutton offered by the restaurant is instant-boiled and featured by fragrance, tenderness and free of smell. Moreover, diversified condiments with peculiar texture are specially prepared by the restaurant, and all hotpots used here have been modified to obtain strong charcoal fire without flying ashes.

Price

Entrance Fee: Free

Address

Dashilar Street, Xicheng District, Beijing

北京市西城区大栅栏商业街

Distance

Downtown

Getting There

Subway:

Line 2 Qianmen Station Exit C

Taxi:

请带我到大栅栏商业街

(Please take me to the Dashilar Street)

Travel Tips

It is just to the south of the Qianmen at Tiananmen Square

Last Updated

2018-05-04 12:21:10

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