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new consumption in old business district

as an important part of beijing's central axis, qianmen street is more than 800 meters long from north to south. during the jiajing period of the ming dynasty, qianmenwai street was already one of the most prosperous streets in beijing. in the qing dynasty, it was "full of gold, silk, pearls, jade, and food and goods. there were wine pavilions and singing halls, and people cheered and drank until dusk."

street view of qianmen street photographed by yan wen/guangming pictures

today, on qianmen street, time-honored brands such as liubiju, quanjude, and tongrentang have stood on the street for hundreds of years. the numerous traditional chinese shops have attracted tourists from all over the world, bringing a new consumer experience. it has become a cultural street that combines tradition and modernity.

time-honored brand opens museum

since ancient times, qianmen street has been a famous commercial district with people and goods coming and going and merchants gathering. many time-honored brands have taken root here for hundreds of years. as of now, there are more than 30 time-honored stores operating here, becoming the first choice for many consumers to taste the charm of beijing. in recent years, qianmen street has promoted the upgrading of traditional time-honored brands, and a number of time-honored brands such as donglaishun, yushiyuan, and changchuntang have completed store upgrades and renovations.

quanjude roast duck restaurant was founded in 1864. its cuisine, which combines whole duck banquets and special dishes, is deeply loved by chinese and foreign diners and is known as "the best restaurant in the world and the best food in china". today, the old walls from the early days of the restaurant have been moved to the lobby as they were, and the old shop style has been restored according to the old arrangement. quanjude has also added a chinese-style afternoon tea, with 16 beijing-style snacks served in exquisite chinese-style boxes, allowing tourists to enjoy a leisurely and slow time.

"it not only has the characteristics of old beijing, but also has a great atmosphere and is great for taking photos! tourists can come and try it." said ms. jiang, a tourist from sichuan.

data picture of qianmen street in the early days of the founding of new china

in order to promote the integration and innovation of time-honored brands and intangible cultural heritage scenes, silian hairdressing museum (beijing hairdressing museum), shengxifu hat museum, rongbaozhai immersive experience research center and other places have settled in qianmen street, opening up a new way of shopping and playing. silian hairdressing museum displays hairstyles, industry figures, and hairdressing culture from ancient times to the present with pictures and texts. the stone tools used by our ancestors to sharpen and cut hair, ancient wooden combs and hairpins, and modern hairdressing equipment are interesting and attract people to stop and take a look.

time-honored brands opening museums cleverly combine old sentiments with new consumption, creating an immersive consumer experience and becoming a new carrier of brand culture.

in recent years, tianjie group, which is responsible for the operation of qianmen street, has optimized the business format of qianmen street around the core positioning of "time-honored brands + national trends" and accelerated the construction of a beijing-style cultural experience consumption district. "we showcase the cultural context by laying out routes and adding doorway light shows, making time-honored brands a popular check-in spot," said a relevant person in charge of tianjie group.

national trend brings new experience

in the past, people's impression of the old commercial street was mostly "a place where tourists come to buy local specialties." today, with the renovation and upgrading, the old commercial street has regained new vitality and added many special experiences and cultural activities.

at gongyan, located at no. 50 qianmen street, visitors can enjoy a new dining experience that combines tasting and cultural exchange. as the first han culture food theater in china, gongyan has created an elegant banquet scene of "food in etiquette, etiquette in food, eating for etiquette, and etiquette in food" in accordance with the requirements of ancient books, from banquets, food, etiquette, and music.

here, tourists walk through the deep courtyard to the "makeup department", where they can choose from hundreds of gorgeous hanfu costumes in the wei, jin, tang, song, and ming styles. makeup artists will design exclusive makeup for tourists based on different costumes. a rectangular stage is set up in the dining area, with long tables and seats arranged on both sides. diners can not only taste delicious food, but also enjoy the "beauty beyond taste" in terms of audio-visual.

"summer vacation is the peak tourist season, and seats need to be reserved 7 to 10 days in advance. we can accommodate more than 300 people for lunch and dinner every day. our dishes and performances will change every quarter to fully showcase the history and culture of different periods." the person in charge of the palace banquet restaurant told reporters.

in addition, qianmen street also held the "qianmen national style festival". there were a variety of cultural activities such as national style dance performances, hanfu parades, talent shows, and intangible cultural heritage markets, so that tourists could feel the national style craze even if they did not go into the store to shop. during the event, a celebrity check-in device was set up for taking photos, and tourists could also play interactive games with national style characters to experience the charm of excellent traditional culture in person.

qianmen street todayphoto by zhang chuandong/guangming pictures

"in the future, we will continue to promote the upgrading of the qianmen street business district, use cultural heritage and cutting-edge technology to create a new consumer experience, cultivate qianmen's distinctive cultural brands and products, introduce diversified new consumer formats, and promote the innovative development of beijing culture." said a relevant person in charge of tianjie group.

the holding of one event after another has made qianmen area a new landmark for national cultural consumption, exploring the integration of excellent traditional culture and fashion trends, and injecting new vitality into the city's cultural development.

source: guangming daily

author: dongcheng liu liujiang

process editor: u070