Long anticipated Hua Mao Shopping Center finally opened in Beijing! I visited it this Saturday, and because I liked it so much, went back on Sunday again. It does not look anything like the malls in Beijing, but very much resembles Hong Kong and Singapore's shopping malls, even the name is very "foreign"-- Shin Kong Place (mandarin pinyin: xinguang tiandi).
The first thing that strikes you as you enter is the interesting design. It's clean and simple, with lots of interior art, such as a waterfall expanding 2 floors and one section decorated with hanging red flowers, so it looks like a red ceiling. The ground floor has the usual brand names in make-up and luxury goods (Coach, Fendi, Prada, Givenchy--- and a huge counter for Bobbi Brown), but the second floor has quite a lot of surprises, and brands that are not otherwise available in Beijing: Jil Sander, Bang & Olufsen, The Bridge, and a cool shop for shirts with a super cool shop window - Thomas Pink. All along the shopping mall, there are nice coffee shops in open places, so I tried a coffee at Ciao Cafe and did some people watching.
5th floor mainly features home collections and stuff for bathrooms and kitchen, as well as fine porcelain pieces. That's were we had the most fun and spent a bit too. I got lost in Alessi, with cute (but very overpriced!) pieces that make you laugh in the kitchen, and then walked over to a store with imported Italian goods, such as fingerprint-free cans, espresso machines, olive oil. They had a live cooking demo and kindly offered to show how to make espresso in those small tins. I had before burnt myself on one of those, and even now remember such excruciating pain, so kept away from the pot-monster, but tried the coffee that they made. Right after, we got offered another espresso at the counter next door, this one made in an automatic coffee machine. By now, already hyper from all the coffee, I just walked by Nespresso shop though really wanted to try one of their blends too. The shop had their new ad playing with George Clooney and a tall, dark, handsome Italian staff who really looks like he belongs in an Italian coffee shop. :)
Bathroom stuff was also completely overpriced, but guess they can charge premium rates as no other shop in Beijing has such a selection. Bjorn bough some stuff at Natural Mill, a store with lovely cream colors and good quality.
Top floor features restaurants such as Ding Tai Fung and Bellagio, set to open for May holidays. So we ended up going to the food court at B1, for Bread Talk snack.
Anyway, the Natural Mill stuff arrives today, and I have a feeling we'll be dreaming Shin Kong dreams in our new, natural, covers! Looking forward to it!
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2 comments:
WOW... absolutely amazing... I just happened to see the headline about Beijing restaurants and can not believe the changes that have taken place in Beijing. I spent a couple of years in Beijing in the early 80's and there was no such thing as anything that even resembled a western shopping mall, much less places like TGI Fridays and McDonalds... And Metro Stations?... Forget about it. The only thing under the city when I was there were evacuation tunnels with schools, hospitals, and gardens to sustain them in an emergency... And to get on a bus in those days was like entering the UFC octagon hookin and jabbin... And to hear you talk of designer clothes makes me laugh, as the majority of the chinese were still wearing the blue or green Mao Suits as we called them. :-) Reading these articles has me curious and wondering if this is nothing more than communist propaganda. Perhaps, God willing, I will get back there one day to see all the changes for myself.`
hi lthl! sorry for the delay in replying, china has blocked blogspot, so took me a while to access again!
thanks for the comment! :) yes, china was like that a while ago, but now you would not recognize it (at least beijing and shanghai and other bigger cities). no, it's not propaganda, the standard of living is rising and there's disposable income to spend. do come back and check it out! :)
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