Wangfujing Bookstore: Beijing Travel Guide

A bookshop on Beijing’s busiest shopping street

Wangfujing Street is mostly glass malls and snack stalls. The bookstore is the exception. Its Chinese name is 王府井书店 (Wángfǔjǐng Shūdiàn), and it sells books across a huge range of subjects, from school textbooks and calligraphy manuals to maps, children’s picture books and translated fiction.

Most visitors walking the pedestrian street go past it on their way to the food. That leaves the aisles far calmer than the pavement outside. It’s a good place to get out of the crowds while still being in the centre of the city.

What you’ll find on the shelves

The shop is big, and nearly all of it is in Chinese. There is an English section, but it’s small. Come to browse, not to fill a suitcase with English paperbacks. These are the shelves most useful to an international visitor:

• Chinese-learning materials: graded readers, character workbooks and HSK exam prep, usually cheaper and better stocked than anything you’ll find abroad.
• Maps and Beijing guides: some are bilingual, and they make useful souvenirs.
• Art and calligraphy books: heavily illustrated, so you don’t need to read Chinese to enjoy them.
• Children’s books: a simple picture book in Chinese makes a light gift to pack.

If English titles are what you’re after, the Foreign Languages Bookstore is a short walk along the same street and carries far more of them.

Getting there and what’s nearby

Take the subway to Wangfujing Station, which is served by Line 1 and Line 8, and follow the signs to Wangfujing Street. The bookstore stands on the pedestrian stretch, so you can walk to it without dealing with traffic. The Forbidden City is roughly a kilometre west, which makes the shop an easy stop before or after the palace.

Places within walking distance:

• St. Joseph’s Church (Dongtang): a grey-brick Catholic church with a plaza out front, further up the same street.
• Oriental Plaza: a large mall at the southern end, near Chang’an Avenue.
• Wangfujing Snack Street: a lane of food stalls just off the main strip.
• Foreign Languages Bookstore: the place to go for a bigger choice of English titles.

Browsing and paying the Beijing way

Paying is the thing most likely to trip you up. In Beijing, almost everyone pays by phone with Alipay or WeChat Pay. Both apps now let foreign visitors link an overseas card, so set one up before your trip. Carry a little cash as a backup, and don’t assume a foreign card will work at the till. Nobody tips in shops.

Chinese bookshops expect people to linger. Readers often sit on the floor or on steps and work through a whole chapter before buying, and no one will move them on. Do the same if you like, but keep the aisles clear for other shoppers.

To find a section, show staff the Chinese: 英文书 (English books) or 地图 (maps). No hours were confirmed for this guide, so check them on a map app before you set off. Weekday mornings are generally quieter than weekends, when the whole street fills with shoppers.