Xinhua List Factors In Facilities, Location, Boutiques And Popularity#
Recently, Jing Daily translated the Chinese portal JRJ's top ten list of China's "Ten Most Luxurious Cities," which saw Beijing and Shanghai jostling for the top spot. (Spoiler: Shanghai won out.) This week, another top ten list, this time compiled by Xinhua, looks at a somewhat more specific topic: Beijing's ten most luxurious malls. While the subject of luxury mall, or luxury apartment, or luxury office complex construction in Beijing over the past 10-20 years tends to elicit strong reactions from virtually everyone -- for better or for worse -- it is always interesting to keep an eye on the criteria used by the Chinese-language media to judge what makes a given mall "luxurious."
The list (translation by Jing Daily team):
1. Oriental Plaza#
(东方新天地)#
Oriental Plaza, opened by Li Ka-Shing, at around 120,000 square meters, is one of the largest shopping centers in Asia, and has already developed to become a "flagship" location for many of the world's top brands. It's Wangfujing's own consumption "nouveau riche." As a comprehensive, large-scale shopping mall, after 2005 Oriental Plaza revitalized itself with men's and women's fashion, jewelry, watches, dining and entertainment facilities.
...More than 40 of the world's top luxury brands have opened flagships [in Oriental Plaza], including Cerruti 1881, a. Testoni, Trussardi, Miss Sixty, Costume Uomo, Tommy Hilfiger, Gieves & Hawkes, etc...these stores are in sync with international fashion, so when new fashions appear in Paris or Milan they appear at the same time in Beijing.
2. Shin Kong Place (新光天地)#
Shin Kong Place shopping mall is a 750 million yuan joint venture between Taiwan Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store and Beijing Hualian Group, and is one of the best shopping malls in Beijing's CBD shopping district.With a lineup of 90 top international luxury brands and 938 well-known brands, Shin Kong has 10 top brand flagship stores, 24 locations that are brands' first China boutiques and 53 Beijing "firsts," and 42 new concept stores.
3. Seasons Place (#
金融街购物中心)#
Over the years, Beijing's best shopping centers have typically been in the east side of the city, with Dorset, Lufthansa Center, the China World Shopping Mall, then later Oriental Plaza and Shin Kong Place stealing the spotlight. However, on September 16, 2007, after five years of negotiation and being postponed four times because of market twists and turns, Seasons Place was unveiled, quickly establishing itself as the most luxurious high-end shopping center in the west of Beijing.
...at 89,000 square meters, Seasons Place has more than 300 international brands, including top brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci, and Ferragamo, as well as the chief Asia location for Lane Crawford.
4. Xidan Joy City (西单大悦城)#
With the world's longest escalator span -- which goes from the ground level directly to the sixth floor, with a total length of more than 50 meters -- as well as Asia's largest screen wall and the country's largest digital movie theatre, Xidan Joy City also offers a massive food court and Beijing's largest cosmetics market. The theatre alone accounts for more than 10,000 square meters, with 13 screens in all, and the food court comprises an area of 20,000 square meters.
5. Youyi Shopping City (燕莎友谊商城)#
30% of the items at Youyi Shopping City are imported, with major international brands abounding -- French cosmetics, Swiss watches, household items from Japan, American office products. 10 top luxury brands have set up shop at Youyi, including Cartier, Zegna, WMF, Givenchy, Lancel, Canali and others...
6. Scitech Plaza (#
赛特购物中心)#
Scitech Plaza has been around since the beginning [of Beijing's high-end makeover], and at that time the prices on the shelves must have shocked those 1992 Beijingers: British (sic) Rolex Watches for 155,000 yuan (US$23,000), German Montblanc pens for 7,900 yuan, embroidered tablecloths from Chaozhou, Guangdong province for 1 million yuan! Since then, [these prices] might not be a big deal, but in the past many consumers saw a visit to Scitech Plaza as way to take a peek at those luxurious items.
7. Sanlitun Village (#
世贸天阶)#
In addition to ZARA, many major fashion brands have settled at Sanlitun Village, including one of only 20 global Adidas flagship stores, one of the finest Japanese upscale restaurant chains -- the first high-end Japanese restaurant chain to enter China -- and the first foreign-language bookstore to be opened by foreigners.
Although Sanlitun Village hasn't quite "matured" yet, dozens of high-quality stores have opened here and the shopping area is well-decorated, already putting it on its way to becoming a truly world-class venue.
8. Maison Mode (美美百货)#
Maison Mode is the first high-end shopping center in the Xidan shopping district. Although it's relatively small, at 250,000 square meters -- the smallest among Xidan malls -- the brands there are pretty significant, including Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Hugo Boss, Versace, Cerruti 1881, Canali, Paul & Shark, Trussardi, Diesel, Spring Field and others.
...Marketing itself as a "noble department store," since its opening two years ago, Maison Mode has set itself apart by bringing in top international brands and made a name for itself by offering extended personalized services to VIP shoppers.
9. China World Shopping Mall (#
国贸商城)#
With the third phase of the [China] World Trade Center about to start, in the last 10 years China World Shopping mall has found itself in the center of Guomao District, at the core of Beijing's CBD. Although nowadays there are [newer malls like] Shin Kong Place or Seasons Place, China World Shopping Mall remains in the eyes of many luxury shoppers the "gold standard."
10. Parkson#
Fuxingmen#
(
复兴门百盛)#
Beijing's Financial Street is one of the fastest-growing economic areas in the cities, and with such high-end surroundings, Parkson is well supported. After 2005, Parkson focused on introducing more imported products, and currently there are seven top international brands located in the mall.
