Beijing Dazhalan Street (北京市大栅栏商业街区)

Dazhalan Walking Business Street is the generally acknowledged business name card of old Beijing. This street was formed in the Qing Dynasty and is still unbeaten after going through more than 580 years of history, so it should have its own distinctive part. There is a jingle sentence in old Beijing: "go Tianqiao to watch things, go Dazhalan to buy things." While a jingle motioned the position and busy scene of Dazhalan: "Majuyuan (hat) on head, Neiliansheng (shoes) on foot, Badaxiang (clothes) on body, Sidaheng (silver draft) in pocket. On both sides of that 300-meter street there are more than 70 shops, such as Ruifuxiang, Neiliansheng, Daguanlou, Zhangyiyuan, Tongrentang and so on...Each of them is a well-known long-established shop. Most of these shops have already become historical relics and they are all treasures of Beijing.

Dazhalan is one of the famous commercial streets in Beijing. There are many famous century-old shops on the street such as Tongrentang. The commercial area outside Qianmen was formed in the Qing Dynasty when it was stipulated that people from other places must not stay in the city (within the present Qiansanmen Street) and the city gate of Beijing must be closed in the evening for the safety of the Forbidden City. People from other places had to live outside Qianmen. Thus, Qianmen Commercial Area was formed. There is an old saying in Beijing: Heading Majuyuan (hat shop): Wearing Badaxiang (silk shop), Stepping Neiliansheng (shoes shop), Placing Sidaheng around the waist (native bank).

The common characteristic of these famous old shops is that they pay attention to their reputation. For example, the founder of Tongrentang said, although the processing of drugs is complicated, we dare not use less labor; although improving the quality is expensive, we dare not use fewer materials.