Xiushui Street is one of the famous clothing markets in Beijing. Located southeast of Beijings embassyarea near Ritan Park, the street draws crowds of up to 10,000 foreign and domestic bargain hunters every day, while visitors may exceed 20,000 at weekends.

The Xiu Shui market reopened for business in its shiny new 5 storey shopping mall on March 19th 2005 (or thereabouts), replacing the infamous original outdoor Xiu Shui market. In doing so, it has become the inner citys one stop tourist shopping paradise. Its name is now written in English across the entrance as simply "Silk Street".

Apart from the almost real-looking designer wear which was present at the old market, you can now enjoy shopping for a wealth of traditional Chinese knick knacks to bring home for your family. If you dont have too much time for shopping in Beijing, this could be the only place you need to visit.

In this new market, the store assistants are much better trained in customer service and language skills, most sporting a bright red jacket with the Xiushui logo on it and an official looking ID badge. Their English often goes way beyond the old days of "cheaper ...", "your price ...?? But the numbers is still often typed out on a calculator to be clear and to avoid other customers hearing how much you paid.

Items which you can find in this market include: Shoes, Jeans, Trousers, Jackets, Shirts, Chinese Souvenirs, Chinese Rugs/Carpets, Golf Equipment, Pearls, Watches, Sunglasses, and Silk by the roll, Chinese Paintings, Small Electronics and many other things. It also has a small supermarket in the basement. Prices are generally very reasonable here compared to your home country and if you are a skilled bargainer, you might be able to get things ridiculously cheap.