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One-stop Plaza Offers All Your Silk Needs

Beijing has long been famous for its enormous choice of silk products, but the fact that they are widely scattered across a wide spectrum of department stores right down to streetside stalls and centers such as the misnamed but no less famous Silk Market (which sells a modest amount of silk items and just about everything else) causes problems for shoppers, tourists especially who don't know their way around in seeking out bargains as well as the unusual.

The problem no longer exists. If you want the best in silk, Beijing now has a one-stop emporium -- Yuanlong Silk Plaza -- where just about everything except the ceiling lamps are in silk. Diversions such as conventional novelty toys seem as much to keep children entertained while mothers get on with the serious business of trying on a new silk dress or slippers.

Yuanlong, Asia's largest silk-products center, is near the north gate of the Temple of Heaven. Far from being the newcomer it seems, it is run by Beijing Yuanlong Silk Corporation Ltd., which grew from the Beijing Yuanlong Embroidery Silk Company. This firm had its roots in a modest shop that was opened about a century ago.

The new five-story Yuanlong Plaza offers huge choices of silk embroidery, drawn work, handmade carpets, tapestries, silk/satin items, brocades, underwear and other clothing (including Chinese styles) and even infants' booties. Like all else, they too are in silk. Shoppers will also find high-end but affordable leathergoods, cashmere garments, furniture, seals, Chinese paintings and calligraphy.

A highlight of a visit to the plaza is the spacious Yuanlong Silk Museum, the first of its kind in such a center, which traces the history of silk and its manufacture. On view are numerous carefully prepared illustrations of the silk industry's initial development along the famous Silk Road, and the crucial role played by the humble mulberry and the moths that feed off it. Weaving demonstrations by experienced workers are held, including that of a handmade carpet.

Yuanlong enjoys a high worldwide reputation for its superb silk products and efficient service.

Its countless customers include heads of state from more than 80 countries, among them Ronald Reagan, former US first lady Babara Bush and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and current US secretary of state Madeleine Albright.