As Americans, we are about to celebrate Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this year, and the food we can anticipate at tomorrow’s dinner is at the top of that list right now. But another great thing about Thanksgiving is that, in our house, it signals the beginning of the Christmas season, something I like to embrace as soon as possible to extend the happy holiday feeling. In that spirit, I’d like to share a new find for which I am quite thankful.
A block away from IKEA sits an unassuming white building across the street from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. It’s just on the edge of Wangjing, and it holds a variety of crafty goodness, the likes of which have possibly not been seen in Beijing before. It’s an art supply building with various stores selling mostly the same stuff, but on the third floor you will find a jewel of a store with the things that many craft-lovers have brought from abroad for years.
These craft supplies include:
- Popsicle sticks in bright colors and unpainted
- Pipe-cleaners in a variety of colors, both sparkly and plain
- Glitter and confetti
- Wiggle eyes in small, medium, and large sizes
- Wire in various colors
- Poster board
- Construction paper in large sizes
- Random teacher goodies (festive borders for boards, name tags for desks, flash cards)
The other stores in the place offer more traditional art supplies like paints, canvases, and drawing pencils (among many other supplies). Many people also travel to Hongqiao (Pearl Market) for good, cheap supplies, but I find this new market to be far more accessible and stocked with things I haven’t seen even at Hongqiao.
If you find yourself with a desire to do some fun crafts for the upcoming season, consider making these Christmas stars or these Christmas ornaments. (Yes, I found both of these on Pinterest originally.) The art market should have all of the supplies you need plus more that could inspire your unique crafts.
To get to the art market, take the 132 bus from Taiyanggong subway stop to Huajiadinanjie or the 471 bus from Wangjingxi subway stop to the same stop name (though the bus will stop farther away, so you’ll have to backtrack slightly). Look for the Pacific Coffee Company café at the first floor. If you get to the main gate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, go a bit to the west, toward the back parking lot.
If you’re crafty, where do you get your craft supplies in Beijing? What are your favorite projects to do for the holiday season?
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Thanks so much for this post! We moved here from the States just 2 months ago and my son has a project (due Wednesday), to make a model of a flower, pistils and stamens included. The craft store that you recommended had the flower wire, clay and pipe cleaners that I needed for him, plus a lot of other fun stuff. It was a lifesaver!
I’m glad you were able to find it! And that school project sounds like the perfect reason to go. I wonder where the other students were supposed to get the materials for their models.
I forgot to mention in the post that they have clay (as Melanie mentioned), bags of assorted buttons, and felt, too. It’s been a struggle for me not to go buy tons of craft supplies just to have them in case. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea, actually, considering how quickly stores appear and disappear in this city…