Receiving 200,000 customers on average every day, Wangfujing is among the busiest shopping hubs in Beijing. Jiang Jun / for China Daily

In addition to its booming commercial activities, the street is also a showcase of modern and traditional culture. Zhang Chuandong / for China Daily

Annual festival to draw world's leading names

A brand gala will gather the world's top names together on Beijing's downtown Wangfujing Street on Sept 15.

The third Beijing Wangfujing International Brand Festival will help boost Wangfujing's popularity and influence as a commercial hub in Beijing and make it a magnet for more top brands, according to the event's organizing committee.

The annual event, organized by the Dongcheng district government and relevant departments of the Beijing municipal government, will run through Sept 25.

One highlight of the festival is the carnival at Jinbao Street on Sept 16.

The whole 730 meter street, in close proximity to Wangfujing Street, will wow the audience with top racecars, motorcycles, floats and equestrian shows, according to the organizing committee.

Also on that day, an award ceremony for watch brands will take place at the Ming Dynasty City Wall Ruins Park.

Another feature of the festival is a forum on brand development and fashion scheduled on Sept 17.

Participants in the two-session forum, which is to be held at the Regent Hotel Beijing, will share stories of the success of international brands and explore roads for Chinese brands to expand their overseas presence, according to the committee.

They will also discuss the relationship between creative economy and brand development, the creative economy's role in the fashion industry, and the marketing of niche brands.

In addition, a large brand-promotion campaign will be launched on Sept 20 at Wangfujing Street as an extension of the festival.

Among the many activities that will be held during the campaign is the opening of flagship store for Swiss watch brand Rado in Wangfujing. Hamilton, a US watch brand, is also expected to conduct road shows to celebrate the 120th anniversary of its founding, according to the committee.

Many shopping centers will join the brands in hosting promotional events on Wangfujing Street during the festival, including Intime Lotte and the Beijing apm shopping center.

Shopping hub

Wangfujing, which literally means "well in the prince's mansion", is one of the oldest and busiest shopping streets in Beijing and even nationwide.

With a history dating back to 1267, the area once housed the residences of 10 princes in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was named for a well dug around that time to serve the area.

The street saw its earliest commercial activities in the late 15th century, but it did not see business boom until 1903, when it became home to the Dong'an market.

Some banks and stores joined the market because the street had embassies and consulates nearby.

By the 1930s, the street had already established itself as a major commercial street in Beijing.

Wangfujing Street further consolidated its position when the Beijing Department Store, the first large State-owned shopping facility in Beijing, was built there in 1955.

The street soon became home to some of the largest specialty stores in the country and also attracted some traditional ones from Shanghai and Tianjin.

In 1993, the Beijing apm, the first joint-venture shopping mall on Wangfujing Street, was built.

This heralded the advent of large-scale construction on the street, which has since attracted more and more brands.

Now Wangfujing Street has more than 700 stores and about 1,000 brands, both internationally renowned and time-honored Chinese ones.

Official statistics show that it is home to 80 percent of the top international brand establishments in Beijing.

In recent years, the 810 meter commercial street has received an average of 200,000 customers on a daily basis, and as many as 500,000 crowd the street at peak times. It generates 7.5 billion yuan ($1.19 billion) in sales revenue per year, according to the statistics.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/14/2012 page12)