The qipao, a unique Chinese one-piece dress, features a high neck, close fit, and straight skirt, with a high slit on one or both sides. If you want a unique souvenir or a gift for yourself or for your female friend or relative, a qipao can be a nice choice. Read more about Qipao (Choeongsam).
How to Choose a Qipao?
Qipao has various styles and is made of various materials. Then how to choose the right Qipao for yourself? There are two keys.
The Occasion
If you use Qipao as a wedding dress (it is very common in China), your Qipao should be with excellent texture and bright color, and be full of jubilant atmosphere. If you use your Qipao as a formal party dress, your Qipao should be made with high quality, dignified and elegant design, and soft color. If you use your Qipao as a casual wear, your Qipao can be choose according to your appetite; even though, I suggest you choose the one can highlight your personality and your figure advantages.
The Size
QipaoQipao is a formfitting one-piece dress, and whether the size is well fit to your figure is the key factor. The ready-to-wear Qipaos sold in shops are made according to general figure. Every person has her own personal figure. Hence, you need to confirm your measurements of your chest, waist, and hips before buying a Qipao. When trying on a Qipao, check out whether the size is well fit you, do not forget to check out the collar, the length of the Qipao and the sleeves, and the size of the sleeves.
If you are worried about the selection for buying a Qipao, tailor-making your own Qipao is a nice choice. You can contact us to have us design a customizable for you, which will allow you as much time as you want for tailor-making or buying your Qipao after you've seen the sights.
Buying a Qipao in Beijing
Photography Equipment City 摄影器材城
The Qipaos there are more affordable. You can find many shops selling Qipaos and wedding dressings, uniforms, and other items on the second and the third floors. And the Qipaos in the third floors are cheaper than that in the second floor. If you intend to buy a Qipao there, you can bargain with half of the initial price. A Qipao might cost you about 400 yuan. You'd better not go to there to buy Qipao at weekends but in ordinary days, because price would rise at weekends.
- Address: 40 Wukesong Road, Haidian District (海淀区五棵松路40号)
- Transportation: Take Subway Line 1, get off at Wukesong Station (五棵松站), get out of the subway station from Exit B, and walk towards east.
Two Qipao Brands
Beijing has two Qipao brands: Gege Qipao (格格旗袍) and Mu Zhen Le Qipao (木真了旗袍). They are two well-known brands for producing Chinese style clothes, of course including Qipao. You can find these two brands Qipaos in many shopping malls, such as:
The Malls at Oriental Plaza 东方新天地
- Address: Dongfang Plaza, 1 Dong Chang'an Street, Dongcheng District (东城区东长安街1号东方广场)
- Tel: 010-8516 6363
- Opening hours: 10am–11pm
- Bus routes: 1, 10, 20, 37, 41, 52, 59, 106, 108, 111, 116, 120, 420, 684 and 728
Wantong New World (万通新世界)
- Address: 2 Fuchengmen Wai Street, Xicheng District (西城区阜成门外大街2号)
- Transportation: Take Subway Line 2, get off at Fuchengmen Station (阜成门站), and get out of the station from Exit D.
Xidan Saite Shopping Mall (西单赛特商城)
- Address: Xidan International Mansion, 111 Xidan North Street, Xicheng District (西城区西单北大街111号西单国际大厦)
There are some other places for buying a Qipao: Wangfujing Street (王府井大街), Qianmen Dashilan (前门大栅栏) and Bairong Mart (百荣世贸商城) in 101 Yongdingmen Wai Street, Chongwen District (崇文区永定门外大街101号). The Qipaos in Bairong Mart are cheaper but with so-so quality.
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Where to Tailor-Make a Qipao in Beijing
The following are some popular Chinese clothes (including Qipao and other traditional Chinese clothes both for ladies and gentlemen, like Tang suit) tailor shops. These shops also offer ready-to-wear Qipaos for your selection. Tailor-making a Qipao must be much more fit you, and the price is higher than buying a ready-to-wear one. The price ranges from hundreds of yuan to thousands of yuan and even more, depending on the materials you choose. The time for tailor-making a Qipao ranges from 24 hours to tens of days, depending on the style you choose (time for making a Qipao with much hand embroidery needs much more time than making a common one).
When you arrive at a Qipao tailor-make shop, the shop assistant will help you to confirm the style, including material, pattern, collar, length of sleeves, where to slit, and fastening buttons (盘扣, pan kou).
Luxury Shops
Shanghai Xu in the Malls at Oriental Plaza (上海徐东方新天地店)
The main products there are Qipaos, with exquisite materials and designs, and well-kept Chinese style elements. Besides Qipao, tailor-making other traditional Chinese clothes, shawls, under wears, and the Western-style clothes are also available there. If you want to tailor-make a high-quality formal Qipao or clothes else, you can go to the shop.
- Average price per person: 2,715 yuan
- Address: Near Wangfujing Station of Subway Line 1, Unite AA10, the Malls at Oriental Plaza, Oriental Plaza, 1 Chang'an Street, Dongcheng District (东城区东长安街1号东方广场东方新天地AA10号, 近地铁1号线王府井站)
- Tel: 010-8518 6376
Branch Shops: Shanghai Xu in Lidu (上海徐丽都店)
- Address: Floor 1, Lidu Holiday Inn, 6 Jiangtai Road, Chaoyang District (朝阳区将台路6号丽都假日酒店1楼)
Yongzheng Tailor Shop (永正裁缝店)
It is one of the most tailor shops in Beijing. You can tailor make Qipao, Western-style clothes, ties, shirts and other items there. The wrought clothes made by the shop can fit your feature very well.
- Address: Floor 1, Block B, Zhongke Mansion, 75 Dengshikou Street, Dongcheng District (东城区灯市口大街75号中科大厦B座1楼)
- Tel: 010-6513 7833
Affordable Shops
Rui Fu Xiang (瑞蚨祥) in Dashilan
Rui Fu Xiang is a tailor shop with a history more than 100 years. All the clothes, including Qipaos, Tang suites, and other traditional Chinese-style clothes, and even the embroideries on the clothes and the fastening buttons, are made with traditional Chinese craft.
The shop is built with unique ancient Chinese architectural style. Travelers even take photos when passing by the shop. The Qipaos there are all handmade, feature high quality and exquisite style.
- Average price per person: 1,266 yuan
- Opening hours: 09:30 – 20:00
- Address: 5 Dashilan Street, Qianmen Wai, Xuanwu District (宣武区前门外大栅栏街5号)
- Tel: 010-6304 1702, 010-6303 5764
- Transportation: Take Subway Line 2 and get off at Qianmen Station.
Other branches
Rui Fu Xiang Wangfujing Branch (瑞蚨祥王府井店)
- Address: 190 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District (东城区王府井大街190号)
- Tel: 010-6523 4147
Rui Fu Xiang Xidan Shopping Mall Branch (瑞蚨祥西单商场店)
- Address: Xidan Shopping Mall, 120 Xidan North Street, Xicheng District (西城区西单北大街120号西单商场内)
Rui Fu Xiang Xinyansha Branch (瑞蚨祥新燕莎店)
- Address: Room 4017, Floor 4, Jinyuan Xinyanshan Mall, 1 Yuanda Road, Haidian District (海淀区远大路1号金源新燕莎Mall4楼4017号)
- Tel: 010-8889 3932
Zijin Liren (紫禁丽人)
It is a nice shop for tailor-making Qipao. Besides Qipao, the shop can design and tailor-make many kinds of clothes for you, including formal suites, drama costumes, dancing dresses, costumes of ethnic groups, and silk pajamas.
- Average price per person: 1,150 yuan
- Opening hours: 09:00 – 21:00
- Address: Floor 3, Wantong Shopping, 2 Fuchengmen Wai Street, Xicheng District (西城区阜成门外大街2号万通商城3楼)
- Tel: 010-6804 0731, 5876 4887
Sightsee and Shop in Beijing with Us
Our Popular Beijing Tours are totally customizable, so when you've seen the sights you can have as much as you want for shopping (we can help with translating while you buy a qipao or other items). You can contact us and have us tailor make a tour for you.