Wangfujing, looking south (August 2004 image)

Night view of Wangfujing (July 2004 image)

Wangfujing street (Simplified Chinese 王府井; Hanyu Pinyin: Wángfǔjǐng Dàjiē) in Beijing is one of the Chinese capital's most famous shopping streets. Much of the road is off-limits to cars and other motor vehicles, and it is not rare to see the entire street full of people, turned into one of China's most attractive and modern boulevards. Since the middle of Ming Dynasty there have been commercial activities. In the Qing Dynasty, eight aristocratic estates and princess residence were built here, soon after when a well full of sweet water was discovered, thereby giving the street its name "Wang Fu" (=aristocratic residence), "Jing" (=well). In 1903, Dong'an market was formed. Wangfujing at Dusk. ... Wangfujing at Dusk. ... Wangfujing Nankou. ... Wangfujing by Night. ... Wangfujing by Night. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Pinyin (拼音, Pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of... Beijing [English Pronunciation] (Chinese: 北京 [Chinese Pronunciation]; Pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; IPA: ), a city in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ...

Prior to 1949, the street was also known as Morrison Street, after the Australian journalist George Ernest Morrison. Wangfujing has become one of the four traditional downtown areas of Beijing, in addition to Dashilar (Dazhalan), Xidan, and Liulichang. George Ernest Morrison (February 4, 1862 – May 30, 1920) was an Australian adventurer born in Scotland and qualified as a medical doctor at Edinburgh University. ... Xidan in Beijing (July 2004 image) Xidan (西单) is home to a commercial district in Beijing. ...

It starts from Wangfujing Nankou, where the Oriental Plaza and the Beijing Hotel are located. It then heads north, passing the Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore, the Beijing Department Store as well as the Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore before terminating at the Sun Dong An Plaza. Beijing Hotel is a state-owned hotel in the Wangfujing area of Dongcheng District. ... The Beijing Department Store is a major attraction on Wangfujing street in the Chinese capital city of Beijing. ...

Prior to the late 1990s trolleybuses, buses, and other traffic ran through the street, making it rather congested. Modifications in 1999 and 2000 made much of Wangfujing Street car-free (aside from the tour trolley and occasional milatary vehicles doing bank transfers). Now through traffic detours to the east of the street. See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from the late 1980s and shortly after the year 2000. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Old Farts by the Sometimes-United Nations. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... This article refers to the mass transit vehicle running on rails. ...

Wangfujing is now home to around 280 old brands of Beijing, such as Shengxifu hat store, Tongshenghe shoe shop, Wuyutai tea house. A photo studio which took formal photos of the first Chinese leadership, the New China Woman and Children Department Store helped established by Song Qingling were also located on the street.

Wangfujing is served by the Beijing subway networks, just one stop away from Tiananmen Square to the west. Line 1 has a station at the southern end of the street, which bears the same name. The logo of Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway (Traditional Chinese: 北京地鐵; Simplified Chinese: 北京地铁; pinyin: běi jīng dì tiě) is a rapid transit system that serves Beijing city and its various outlying suburbs. ... Tiananmen Square (Simplified Chinese: 天安门广场; Traditional Chinese: 天安門廣場; Pinyin: Tiānānmén Guǎngchǎng) is the large plaza near the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen (literally, Gate of Heavenly Peace) which sits to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. ... Line 1 of the Beijing subway runs from Pingguoyuan in the west through to Sihui East in the east. ...

See also: List of leading shopping streets and districts by city This page lists leading upscale shopping streets, districts, and centres by city. ...

External links

• Wangfujing 50 High quality photographs of Wangfujing
• [1] Old brands of Beijing (in Chinese)