Restaurant & Hotel Supply Market

My old pans with nonstick coating have seen MUCH better days. Occasional use by my ayi or a hired chef, who follow basic Chinese cooking methods of light the flame HIGH and heat pot until smoking, have begun to melt the nonstick coating to a dangerously unhealthy degree. So, off I went in search of new pots and pans.

Beijing has changed much from the 1980s, when I first lived here and when one had only a wok and a 1-burner ring if one was lucky enough to have a "kitchen". Kitchenwares now are to be found in every hyperstore like Carrefours, in every major department store, in IKEA, in wholesale markets like Dongjiao (one block south and east of China World) and in small specialty stores like the new Pantry Magic in the new Nali Patio mall (81 Sanlitun North Road 朝阳区三里屯北路81号那里花园; tel. 5208-6001). (By the way, the latter is a GREAT resource for hard-to-find western cooking items.)

But I wanted adventure, Beijing-style, so off I went to the Jing Kai Wan Jai International Hotel & Restaurant Supply Market (经开万佳国际酒店用品市场) in Shi Ba Li Dian (十八里店). On the first floor of this large building you will find chinaware, flatware, crystal, and kitchenware manufacturers setting up their wares for the restaurant trade. Want bamboo steamers? Industrial-grade mixers? Deep fryers? Pots and pans of every imaginable size? Ice buckets? Fountains for champagne, chocolate or cheese? Stylish platters and dishes and tureens? Come on down! You'll find it somewhere! On the 2nd floor are companies dealing with the hotel trade and selling everything hotel-related: bedding, small bottles of shampoo, electric shoe polishers, coat hangers, etc.

Here are directions and pictures to help you get there.

1) Go south on the 4th Ring Road to Exit 16 Shi Ba Li Dian Bei Qiao 十八里店北桥。 (You will pass China World, the big stores like Walmart, Decathlon, etc. before reaching exit 16.)

2) Get off Exit 16.
3) Head south down the exit road toward Shi Ba Li Dian Nan Qiao 十八里店南桥 .
4. Keep going (through a few intersections). You will pass an Automart on the right and go under the arch you see ahead. You'll be parallel the 4th Ring Road until the road veers to the right and...
5. ... you will come to this fork in the road. DON'T TURN LEFT UNDER THE HIGHWAY! Stay to the right. You're going away from the 4th Ring Road, but very soon....
6. .... you'll see this sign. Turn left to go UNDER the road.7. You'll go through this 2-way tunnel, and when you emerge you will see ...
8. ... the market on your right!! It's the Jing Kai Wan Jia Guo Ji Jiu Dian Yong Pin Shi Chang 经开万佳国际酒店用品市场.

To the right: One of many china shops for made-to-order settings. Choose the shape, size, amounts and even pattern. I saw Great Hall of the People authorized china!








To the left, one of many hotel supply vendors. Made-to-order bedding and tablecloths are available in addition to pillows, small bottles of shampoo, robes, shoe polishers, and hangers.