Walk into a World of Art

The Beijing Gong Mei Art World Building at the corner of Wangfujing Street and Wangfujing Dongdan San Tiao is a microcosm of China's arts and handicrafts. If you are pressed for time and want to sample the regional wealth of this timeless nation, this 10-story building brings it all together under one roof. Designed in the familiar Chinese department store style, display areas are elegantly appointed, with showcases kept simple, walls painted stark white, lighting carefully positioned. All is aimed at letting the art and crafts on display take center stage, and that they do.

The Art World opened just recently, on July 1, and is owned and operated by Beijing Arts and Crafts Group. For short-term visitors to the city, it offers a wealth of convenient shopping. For expats and residents, the store offers a glimpse of the rich variety of Chinese art and crafts.Prices are steep on some items, especially the one-of-a-kind treasures on the sixth floor, and the large (really large) display pieces scattered about. But don't steer away from these; the displays are museum quality, and strolling among them as a browser is almost as much fun as being there as a buyer. And, keep looking. There are many craft items on offer that are affordable, and all are hand-crafted with the attention to detail that is the hallmark of fine Chinese artisanship.

Officials of the store expect the estimated everyday customer volume to reach 80,000, up to 100,000 on weekends and holidays. So, now is the perfect time to discover this treasure trove, before the rest of Beijing does. At the time of my visit, admittedly at 6:30 pm on a weekday, the customer traffic was decidedly sparse. The one exception: the Mcdonald's on the ground floor, which has already been discovered by the Big Mac addicts among us. As they walk in through the main door, a large multi-armed gold-plated Buddha greets incoming shoppers. To the left, glass cabinets display traditionally designed jewelry made of jade, gold, pearls and semi-precious stones.

At the back of the hall, an interestingly kitsch fake tree selection is interspersed with a few flowers. To the right is an assortment of trinkets, teapots, statues, vases and cloisonne earrings and hair ornaments.

One eye-catching item is a number of bone china lamps, each with its light bulb situated inside a lamp shade of decorated bone china. These lamp shades actually revolve so that the designs (scenery, small children) rotate as they are illuminated.

The second floor is home to an array of silks, cashmere, laces, embroidery, silk carpets and various types of cloth. The big display here is in the form of a giant triptych of embroidered gold dragons frolicking in waves of blue and silver thread. The price of such handiwork? A cool RMB 380,000.

I have often wondered about such exorbitantly expensive art pieces in Chinese department stores. These creations (generally vast in size) have price tags with so many zeros on them that it is in some cases a struggle to fit all the numbers onto the small price tag. Who buys these things? And how big is their house? The mind truly boggles.

The small cloth department on this floor is worth a peek for its range of minority printed and woven cloths, including a wide range of blue and white batik and tie-dyed cloth. The prices are also quite reasonable starting from as low as 18 yuan a meter for the plain-colored cloth. Silk is also on offer here, as are a number of beaded evening dresses, priced at RMB 1,500 and up. To complete the gaudy 1980s look, take your pick from the disco glitter bags in all their sequined glory, cheap at RMB150 to RMB300.

The third floor houses a selection of elephant ivory products, imported from Africa and carved in Guangdong. What about the international ban on ivory products? Apparently that applies only to large ivory pieces; small ornaments are okay. Intriguing logic, which, however, did not explain the presence of the large carved tusk on the fourth floor.

In the back left of the third floor can be found my favorite object in the whole building, located in a alcove containing many expensive items. It is a giant jade cabbage, measuring about half a meter in length. The asking price is RMB986,000. If anyone is wondering what to buy me for my birthday ...

The Beijing Gong Mei Art World Building is open from 9 am to 9 pm, seven days a week.