Heritage Shopping
The souvenir that outlives the trip: this is China's heritage economy at its best - workshops, ateliers, and family studios where centuries-old crafts are still made by hand and sold at the source.
20 curated entries
Verified TrustHangzhou Silk Market
Hangzhou · Shopping & Creative
China's silk trade since the Song dynasty - scarves, robes, and bedding by the bolt.
Verified TrustZhoucheng Tie-dye
Dali · Shopping & Creative
Learn Bai tie-dye in the village where it has been made for 300 years - and take your own pattern home.
Verified TrustKashgar Sunday Bazaar
Kashgar · Shopping & Creative
The legendary market of the Silk Road's far end: carpets, knives, spices, and a thousand years of trade.
Verified TrustJingdezhen Porcelain Market
Jingdezhen · Shopping & Creative
A thousand years of ceramic trade under one roof: from 10-yuan cups to imperial replicas.
Verified TrustLong Feng Qipao
Shanghai · Shopping & Creative
Shanghai's heritage qipao house since 1936, on the old-brand street where the Soong sisters once shopped.
Verified TrustNeiliansheng Cloth Shoes
Beijing · Shopping & Creative
The 1853 shoemaker that fitted the Qing court, still hand-making velvet boots and embroidered slippers today.
Verified TrustRuifuxiang Silk
Beijing · Shopping & Creative
The 1862 silk emporium that dressed the last empress, with bolts of brocade and made-to-measure qipao.
Verified TrustBeijing Enamel Factory
Beijing · Shopping & Creative
Watch cloisonné being made by hand - wire by wire, color by color - then shop the factory's own showroom.
Verified TrustDai Yue Xuan
Beijing · Shopping & Creative
Liulichang's master brush-maker, hand-binding weasel-hair brushes in a workshop older than most museums.
Verified TrustZhang Xiaoquan Scissors
Hangzhou · Shopping & Creative
The 1663 scissor maker whose blades outlived four dynasties, still forged, sharpened, and sold on Hefang Street.
Verified TrustWang Xing Ji Fans
Hangzhou · Shopping & Creative
A 150-year-old workshop of hand-painted silk and sandalwood fans, the kind that appear in imperial dramas.
Verified TrustNanjing Yunjin Museum
Nanjing · Shopping & Creative
The museum of yunjin - the 'cloud brocade' so fine two weavers had to work one loom - with weavers at work and silk for sale.
Verified TrustQian Tai Xiang Silk
Suzhou · Shopping & Creative
A 1857 silk merchant's shop on Guanqian Street, still trading in the brocade and satin that made Suzhou famous.
Verified TrustClay Figure Zhang
Tianjin · Shopping & Creative
The 180-year-old studio of painted clay figurines that made Tianjin's Ancient Culture Street famous.
Verified TrustYangliuqing New Year Painting Society
Tianjin · Shopping & Creative
The woodblock workshop behind China's most famous New Year paintings, where the prints of old China are still carved and colored.
Verified TrustAtlas Silk Workshop
Kashgar · Shopping & Creative
Handwoven ikat silk from Kashgar's old city, where the bright, bold atlas patterns of the Silk Road are still made on wooden looms.
Verified TrustGuilin Sanhua Liquor
Guilin · Shopping & Creative
The rice liquor of Guangxi, aged in cave warehouses since 1952 - a taste of the province's rice paddies and limestone hills.
Verified TrustTujia Brocade Workshop
Zhangjiajie · Shopping & Creative
The rainbow-patterned brocade of the Tujia people, woven by hand in the mountains of Zhangjiajie since the Song dynasty.
Verified TrustHeqing Silverware Village
Dali · Shopping & Creative
A village of Bai silversmiths near Dali, where pure silver is beaten into jewelry, teapots, and ritual pieces by hand.
Verified TrustMoutai Town
Zunyi · Shopping & Creative
The riverside town that distills China's most famous liquor, where the scent of fermenting baijiu hangs over the Long March ferry.