Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Financial Street—Jinrong Dajie (
金融大街
)—is just what you think it sounds like—a place
for making money. The street kicks off with the People's Bank of China (the central bank)
and continues with more bank head offices, towering office buildings, and five-star ho-
tels built to accommodate the incoming businesspeople. Unlike Sanyuanqiao and Guomao,
which are characterized by foreign or multinational companies, those located here are pre-
dominantly Chinese.
The culture here is money, so unless it's a custom designed to attract more fortune, you
probably won't see too much by way of ancient practices. This is a working place. People
come in, work, and then leave. Nightlife is next to zero. Shopping, on the other hand, isn't
bad. You have Lane Crawford for the upper house, and Parkson department store for the
everyday.
Housing
Serviced apartments abound here. These include The Apartments on Financial Street
(
www.jrjgy.com.cn
)
, The Westin Beijing Financial Street Executive Residences
(
www.starwoodhotels.com/westin
)
, and, a more affordable option, Beijing HWA Hotel
(
www.huaweihotel.com
)
. The latter is a 15-minute walk toward the more cosmopolitan area
of Xidan.
For something more permanent, there are also several quality apartment communities.
These include Xipai International Apartments (
西派国际公寓
), which range from about
RMB15,000 for a two-bedroom to RMB30,000 for a three-bedroom; Fenghui Yuan Xiaoqu
(
丰汇园小区
), in which rent ranges from around RMB6,500 for a one-bedroom to
RMB29,000 for a three-bedroom; or luxury community Zhonghai Kaixuan (
丰汇园小区
),
which ranges from about RMB15,000 for a one-bedroom to RMB35,000 for a three-bed-
room.
When you ask a local about where they like to go to shop, nine times out of 10 they'll tell
you here. Situated at the corner of Xidan Beidajie and Xichang'an Jie, the area is a youth-
ful and carefree interlude between the stern complexes of Tian'anmen and Financial Street.
Cinemas, an ice-skating rink, restaurants, and cavernous malls populate the immediate
area. Joy City (
www.xidanjoycity.com
), Grand Pacific (
www.grandpacific-mall.com.cn
),
and Zhongyou Department Store (
中友百货
) are just three of the more popular ones for
locals.
