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Not being Chinese, how many of you actually miss or even crave for a taste of home? Wondering where to actually shop fresh produce and start cooking, like it used to be, back in your home town? Don’t you worry, everything is possible! With many fresh markets in Beijing, some of them are also offering a variety of imported goods. So if you are searching for some special fresh herbs or other secret ingredients, take a look!
To make your life in Beijing more convenient, we have tested fresh markets all over town, to help you find what you are missing.
1. Non-Local Produce: Sanyuanli Market (三源里菜市场)
This fresh market is ideal for anyone living the area between Dongzhimen, Sanlitun and Sanyuanqiao. The stallholders are friendly and some of them learned all produce-related English vocabulary, making it even more convenient for you to shop. Sanyuanli Market 0ffers imported ingredients from a lot of different countries. Here you can buy produce that won’t be found at the typical Chinese fresh market, including exotic fruits, western vegetables, dairy products, cornflakes and a good variety of herbs. This market is well-known and quite famous among locals and expats. As for price, as a fair share is imported produce, prices can be higher, but a decent quality is guaranteed.
Sanyuanli market is divided into four sections with two side entrances; the north end of the market provides an arrangement of appealing fruit stalls. The middle market has its fresh meat and seafood for you to bring home. The other middle part towards South is where they sell all unique kinds of fresh vegetables, herbs, and spices. Finally, at the South end you can find a wide variety of rice, tofu and beans, as well as some kitchen utensils. It doesn’t only supply raw ingredients but also a splendid choice of Western and Asian Food seasonings and instant-easy to cook packages like Chicken Rice paste, Bak Kut Teh, and Tom Yam Kung. Special feature of this market are the fresh Western and Thai food herbs like basil, lemon grass, lime and other more exotic ingredients. Not to mention a fair share of dairy products like yoghurt, cheese and butter.
Details
Address: 北京朝阳区东三环顺源街1号（三元东桥西）
1 Shunyuan Street (Sanyuan East Bridge), Dongsanhuan, Chaoyang District
Opening Hours: Daily, 9 am – 7 pm
Closest Subway: Take Line 10 to Liangmaqiao Station (Exit A) and head North, approximately 15-20 minutes of walking.
How to Get There: By subway, or most preferably by Taxi. Just say the address or the market’s name and you’ll get there immediately.
2. Shengfu Xiaoguan Morning Market (盛福小关市场)
This Sanyuanqiao morning fresh market is over by late afternoon at 1 pm daily. It is set just beside the peaceful Xiangheyuan Park but yet, the crowd of daily customers flooding towards the entrance makes it noticeable. Local Chinese living around this area often call it short as Xiaoguan Market. They say, it supplies a complete selection of local produce with best quality and freshness, as well as cheap prices, compared to other markets.
This market is small but very concise. Like most local markets, Xiaoguan Market offers not only fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, but also spices, mushrooms, meats and seafood. The special feature of this market are the outer stalls lining the walls with everything else you may need; Chinese liqueur, some clothes stalls, real and artificial flowers and plants, even a shoe tailor. A Shanxi noodle maker sells fresh and dried noodles, among them are “cat ears” (猫儿) made with different flours including corn and oats. At one end is a grain seller whose varieties include over 20 types of rice, every form of grain from lentils to bran as well as different kinds of dried fruits and beans. The variety you can find here will go beyond your wildest imagination.
Details
Address: 北京朝阳区左家庄24路车站（附近香河园路）
24 Zuojiazhuang, near Xiangheyuan Road, Chaoyang District
Opening Hours: Daily, 6 am – 1 pm
Closest Subway: Take Line 10 to Liangmaqiao Station (Exit A) and head North-West or stop at Sanyuanqiao Station on line 10 (exit C3) and head South-West for alternative. Both ways need approximately 20 minutes of walking.
How to Get There: If you use public transport, going by bus is recommended. Make your stop at Zuojiazhuang station (左家庄站）and then find an entrance to the park. The market will be reach after a walk of 400 meters approximately.
3. Wangjing Zonghe Market (望京街道便民菜市场)
This massive fresh market is considered to be the biggest open market in Wangjing area, also known as Beijing’s Korean town. This unique market holds everything you can imagine deep in Chaoyang district. For those who crave Korean Food, you will be in heaven, as you will find many Korean ingredients like dried fish, different sauces, kimchi and more. This market has become a favorite shopping spot for both Wangjing-area’s Korean community and local Chinese, some other foreigners from different countries can also be spotted.
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The layout of this market including it’s three entrances, resembles Beijing’s ring roads: the essential fresh produce is located at the center. The centralized outdoor market area is filled with vendors that shadow themselves with red umbrellas, giving the whole market a special atmosphere. Here, vendors offer the regular selections of fresh vegetables and fruits for a common price. Well, cheaper than what you pay in supermarkets. The second ring is where you will find many stores selling various kinds of Korean goods and products. There is an entrance to the building at the third ring where they sell fresh meats, seafood, noodles, flour, grains, nuts and many more. If you get hungry in the middle of your shopping, do not worry, as you will be surrounded by a lot of snack stalls. Not for everyone: on some days you can find dog meat here, if you look for the nervous man with a sparsely stocked table and a tail hanging over its edge.
Details
Address: 北京朝阳区望京宏昌路
Wangjing Hongchang Road, Chaoyang District
Opening Hours: 7 am – 6 pm
Closest Subway: Take Line 15 to Wangjing Station (Exit A)
How to Get There: Take subway line 15 and stop at Wangjing station. Make sure you find exit A when you get out. Head to north-west direction and you’ll definitely see this huge market.
4. Chaowai Market (朝外地区便民早市)
It is an open morning market at Workers Stadium area near Sanlitun, which finishes early afternoon. The market is famous and well known in the area, for its fresh produce, even though most people dont recognize it by its name. As you enter the market you will see a lot of vendors with colorful umbrellas covering their stalls. Here you can buy local produce such as fresh vegetables, fruits, dried goods, and all kinds of household items. Vendors are friendly and price is negotiable. If you’re after a particular ingredient for a Chinese dish, then you are most likely to find it here.
Things sold here come with a great variety. Tofu comes in all shapes and sizes, and many of the fruit and vegetable vendors specialize in a particular category of food, such as mushrooms, grain or spices, rather than just stocking everything. Aside from fresh produce, meats and Chinese sauces and spices, this market offers general merchandise and traditional Chinese ornaments as well as some clothing and garment. The special feature of this market is the small stores on the outer perimeter that sell specialty items like freshly pressed sesame oil and paste, salted fish, and all different kind of nuts. The worker stadium west road is well worth exploring for some restaurants and cafes around it.
Details
Address: 工人体育场西路与南路交汇处(下三条附近)
Intersection of Workers Stadium West Road and South Road (Down 3rd alley)
Opening Hours: 7 am – 1 pm
Closest Subway: Take Line 6 to Dongdaqiao Station (exit A) and head to north-west, approximately 15 minutes of walking.
How to Get There: You can go there both by bus or by subway. By Subway; follow the instruction above. By bus; stop at Chaoyang Yiyuan Station (朝阳医院站) or Worker Stadium Station (工人体育馆站).
5. Lishuiqiao Seafood Farmers’ Market (立水桥海鲜大市场)
Are you yearning fresh seafood? As Beijing is anything but a costal city, fresh high-quality seafood can be difficult to get by. You either find it expensive or not meeting your expectations in terms of freshness, quality or taste. Go and check out Lishuiqiao Seafood Farmers’ Market! This place is well known among local Chinese for its quality fish. Prices here are very competitive as all the stalls are selling similar selection. So look around and take your time. As with any market, it is advisable to try a few stalls until you find your favorite vendor.
The market can be tricky to find, as it is located in the basement of the tall Lishuiqiao Seafood Farmers’ Market building (立水桥海鲜农贸商业 ). The upper floor of the building hosts a supermarket. The building is surrounded by an abundance of chinese restaurants as well as small snack stalls. The best part about this market is the corner reserved for restaurants, where the chef will cook the fish for you on the spot according to your requirements. So you may enjoy the seafood right there within the market. The seafood looks fresh and most of it is still alive when you purchase it. Vendors are very friendly, but can get a little too enthusiastic when trying to sell. A word of advise; be careful not to fall onto buying something you arenot really interested in, as a result of their sweet persuasion.
Details
Address: 北京朝阳区立清路8号
8 Liqing Road, Chaoyang District
Opening Hours: 8 am – 9 pm
Closest Subway: Take Line 13 to Lishuiqiao Station (Exit B2)
How to get there: Get your way out from Exit B2 of Lishuiqiao subway station and go for a straight walk (heading south) around 700 meters till you see a turn to the right. For alternative, cross the street from exit B2 and take a bus heading south for one stop.
6. Jinying Market (金瀛农贸市场) at the Tianyu Market Complex (天宇商品市场)
Some good markets can be hard to find, and this is one of the hidden markets we found quite amazing. Jinying market is close to Sanlitun area at Chaoyang district, located outside 3rd Ring Road at Yaojiayuan Road. Apart from the fresh produce, the Tianyu Market Complex also covers a market hall with stalls selling meat and fish, as well as a merchandise hall for clothes, duvets, household items and toys. The different markets sell a broad variety of products, so they most likely also have what you might be looking for.
Like any other fresh local market, Jinying market offers a range of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables as well as other daily products and food seasonings. The Guanyu Merchandise Market in the same complex offers the varieties of goods and commodities as well as clothes and phone stores. A different hall nearby provides meats and fish, a line of snacks stalls selling fried chickens, chinese tradional cakes and Beijing’s famous Malatang.
Details
Address: 北京朝阳区团结湖东里10号（附近姚家园路）
10 Tuanjiehu Dongli (Near Yaojiayuan Road), Chaoyang District
Opening Hours: 9 am – 8 pm
Closest Subway: Take Line 10 to Tuanjiehu Station (Exit C)
How to get there: By subway, by bus, or most preferable by Taxi. By Subway: Exit C of Tuanjiehu Station, head to south-east for 15 minutes walk. This hidden market will be find in its own small complex along with the other markets. By Bus: stop at Tuanjiehu Station (团结湖站)
7. Farm to Neighbors Organic Market (鼓楼农夫市集)
Unlike the other markets in this post, Farm to Neighbors Organic Market is a unique weekly event that was launched by a three-year expat Erica Huang. After two years of battling issues with food in China, Erica decided it was time to take matters into her own hands and find healthier sources for her produce and eggs. This organic market has different venues, all of them are extra fresh and fun. The most common one is Modernista at Baochao Hutong on Sundays.
Here you can find the perfectly fresh and healthy produce from local farmers as well as some non-local products. To name a few, they are selling: handmade cheese, organically-grown vegetables, seasonal fruits, pasture-raise black hog’s meat, eggs, stone-milled wheat flour, corn flour, soy oil, Chinese angel-hair noodles, brown sugar smoked pork, Tibetan yogurt and traditional homemade rice wine and still many more! This market still comes with a unique and different products from time to time. So I might say: go there, explore, and take a look by yourself!
Details
Address: 北京东城区鼓楼东大街宝钞胡同44号 (Modernista)
44 Baochao Hutong, Gulou Dongdajie, Dongcheng District
Opening Hours: 12 am – 5 pm
Closest Subway: Take Line 2 to Guloudajie Station (Exit G)
How to get there: By subway or most preferable by Taxi. By Subway: Exit G of Guloudajie Station, then head south and turn left into Zhangwang Hutong until Baochao Hutong. Walking time: 12 minutes.
Typically, every neighborhood will have some small shops, or farmers’ markets, where vendors sell fresh local vegetables and fruits. However, sometimes those markets are a bit hidden, and perhaps off the main street. One way to find them is to look for people carrying a lot of greens, mainly in the morning, and see where they are coming from.
Which are your favorite fresh markets in Beijing? If you know one that we should add to the list, please share your insights with us.
