Beijing 2009 - Chien-Men Main Street

Chien-Men Main Street is one of the oldest shopping streets in China. We are talking about as early as the Yuan Dynasty - around 1,200, this area was already one of the major commercial centres in China.

The street is right along the central axis of Beijing City, in front of the Zhengyangmen Tower Gate. Today, the whole area has been completely rebuilt. The shops are replicas of old Bejing architecture, but sadly they do not look very authentic and have a Disneyesque feel about them. I am sure they are very popular with the tourists, and offer great photo ops. 

If you wander off the main street into some of the side streets, there are some alleys which feel a bit more authentic and not like a stage set.

There is a tram line with replica trams which run along the main street.