Dashilar, the street of century-old shops

In front of you is the entrance to Dashilar. It is written Dàzhàlán, but Beijingers pronounce it “Dashílar”, and it is one of the oldest shopping streets in the city.

1The great barrier

The name means “the big barrier”. In 1488, to curb theft, the Ming authorities ordered the ends of streets to be closed at night with wooden fences. The merchants of this street paid for one bigger than all the rest, and the nickname ended up as the official name. The iron gateway you see is modern, from 2000.

2Shops with history

Wealthy Beijingers had a saying: “a hat from Majuyuan, shoes from Neiliansheng, clothes from the eight Xiang houses and money from the four Heng”. Nearly all of them were here. The Tongrentang pharmacy, founded in 1669, moved to this street in 1702 and from 1723 supplied medicines to the imperial dispensary. The Ruifuxiang silk shop opened in Beijing in 1893, the Neiliansheng shoe shop started out in 1853 making boots for officials, and Zhang Yiyuan has sold jasmine tea since 1900.

In June 1900 the Boxers set fire to a shop selling foreign medicines. The flames spread, destroyed hundreds of businesses and reached the Zhengyangmen tower.

The street was also the entertainment district. It had grand opera theatres and, at the Daguanlou, the city's first cinema, where in 1905 one of the first Chinese films was shown.

3What to look for

• The three medallions with the characters 大栅栏 on the entrance arch.
• The Tongrentang façade, with red lanterns and its name in gold letters.
• The vertical signboards of the old shops, hanging beside their doors.