Wangfujing Street History

St. Joseph's Church features a dramatic Romanesque facade of grey brick that stands in sharp contrast to the surrounding commercial district. Jesuit missionaries built the original structure in sixteen fifty-five on land granted by the…

The long, glass-fronted facade of Beijing apm stretches along Wangfujing Street, characterized by its bright, modern advertisements and the constant flow of people through its wide entrances. This site once housed the Dong’an Market, which…

The sign for Donglaishun hangs above a narrow storefront, recognizable by its bright red lettering and the scent of charcoal drifting from the kitchen. It began in nineteen oh three as a modest food stall run by Ding Deshan, who pushed a…

The Beijing Department Store stands out with its grand, symmetrical facade capped by a prominent clock tower that chimes every hour. Opened in nineteen fifty-five, it was the first large-scale state-owned department store built in the city…

The facade of Ruifuxiang features a traditional, ornate wooden sign hung high above the entrance, with its name written in distinct, bold calligraphy. This shop opened in nineteen eighteen, but the business roots date back to the late…

The Beijing Shengxi Fumaoye Company occupies a modest office space in the Dongcheng District, a neighborhood where the remnants of old Beijing courtyard houses sit alongside modern commercial development. This firm serves as a local player…

The Wangfujing Bookstore is marked by the large, gold-lettered sign in Chinese calligraphy draped across its expansive glass facade. Since nineteen fifty-eight, this six-story building has served as the central hub for Beijing's publishing…

The Wangfujing Paleolithic Museum sits deep beneath the bustling Oriental Plaza. In nineteen ninety-six, construction crews digging for the foundation struck a layer of earth twenty-five thousand years old. They uncovered stone tools,…