The Spring Festival is right around the corner, and shopping for festive goods at fairs is an essential part of this joyous occasion. Beijing offers a variety of options, combining both modern and traditional fairs for you to explore. Let's check these out.

2024 Beijing Workers' Stadium New Year Shopping Expo

With the Spring Festival drawing near, over 300 merchants at the Workers' Stadium have begun offering a diverse array of products. These include a wide range of traditional festive goods like bacon, dried fruits and nuts, as well as tea. There are also specialties hailing from various regions across China, such as rice from Wuchang, oysters from Rushan, coconut powder from Hainan, beef jerky from Inner Mongolia, as well as exotic products like Russian chocolate, Ugandan coffee, Ghanaian cocoa butter, and Moldovan red wine.

Venue: Workers' Stadium

Time: Until February 6

28th Traditional Beijing New Year Goods Fair

At the Traditional Beijing New Year Goods Fair, a treasure trove of agricultural and sideline products awaits customers. You'll discover an assortment of products, ranging from dried mushrooms from northeastern China to seafood delicacies from southern China, and from beef and mutton from Inner Mongolia to tonic products from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. You can also indulge in the flavors of time-honored festive products, nuts, snacks, sweets, pastries, tea, seafood, and more from various provinces and cities across China.

What makes this fair truly special is the presence of intangible cultural heritage craftsmen from Beijing and Henan. They skillfully craft "面人(mian ren)" (dough figurines), "泥人 (ni ren)" (clay figurines), "翻花 (fan hua)" (intricate paper flowers), "糖画 (tang hua)" (sugar paintings), and traditional Henan woodblock New Year paintings, adding an extra layer of cultural richness to the event.

Venue: National Agricultural Exhibition Center (East 3rd Ring Road)

Time: Until February 6

2024 Huaibei Guguan Spring Festival Fair

[Photo by Pinwei Huaibei]

[Photo by Pinwei Huaibei]

At this year's Guguan Fair, you'll have a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in the festive spirit. You can explore an abundance of festive goods, savor delightful snacks, partake in entertaining games, and revel in captivating performances to your heart's content. Each day, the fair will feature a themed art performance, allowing you to enjoy delightful spectacle while shopping. It will be an experience that promises to please both your eyes and taste buds.

Venue: Hefangkou Village, Huaibei Town, Huairou District

Time: February 4-6

Mafang Fair in Pinggu District

Mafang Fair has a rich history, dating back to the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty. On January 29, which corresponds to the nineteenth day of the twelfth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, Mafang Fair marks its significant opening day just before the Chinese New Year. Apart from a wide array of festive goods and special agricultural and sideline products, you'll have the opportunity to savor delicacies from various regions, including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, and southern China.

A special Russian commodity booth was also set up in the twelfth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. Here, you can indulge in Russian delights such as Russian bread, red sausages, candies, and flour, adding an international flavor to your festive shopping experience.

Venue: Mafang Town, Pinggu District

Time: 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th, and 29th of every month on the Chinese lunar calendar

Shahe Fair

Shahe Fair in Beijing enjoys a well-deserved reputation for its excellent quality and affordable prices. This bustling fair offers a delectable array of culinary delights, including steaming haggis soup, freshly baked traditional cakes, succulent roast chicken, and a wide variety of other mouth-watering fresh foods to tantalize your taste buds. In addition to its culinary offerings, Shahe Fair also caters to lovers of curios and antiques, providing an opportunity to discover unique, old objects with historical richness.

Venue: 140 meters west of the intersection of the auxiliary road of G6 and Anjiqiao Road, Changping District

Time: Every Wednesday/Saturday/Sunday 7:00 -13:00

On other days 6:00 - 11:00

Yongning Fair

[Photo via Beijing Evening News]

[Photo via Meili Yanqing]

Yongning Fair, with its roots tracing back to the Ming Dynasty, stands out as the oldest and largest fair in the Yanqing region. It proudly ranks among the third batch of representative projects of Yanqing district-level intangible cultural heritage. One of its highlights is the rich variety of delicacies it offers. Notably, Yongning's tofu was once a tribute to the imperial court during the Qing Dynasty and continues to be a cherished local specialty that is certainly worth sampling. You'll also find an abundance of authentic mountain goods and miscellaneous grains, many of which are cultivated and produced by local farmers, adding to the fair's cultural and culinary richness.

Venue: Yongning Ancient Town, Yanqing District

Time: Every morning

(Sources: WeChat Official Account of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, The Beijing News)