One of the many benefits of living abroad is how easy it is to make friends and the plethora of social events. In my daily life, I get to speak with many mothers. Many have been here longer than me while others have been here just a few weeks. I remember during my first few weeks in Beijing I thought that the supermarket under Kempinski hotel was the only one available to me. Boy was I wrong. There are supermarkets galore! But where to go and how to find them?  Here is a roundup of the supermarkets and food markets that I have found. Peace is found when you know where to go for your weekly shopping. Don’t be fooled though, in Beijing you usually need to go to a few different supermarkets to get everything you need.

Jinkelong Supermarket ~ This supermarket chain is Chinese, and has almost anything you might desire. It helps, also, that it is very cheap. The market activity can be quite a spectacle sometimes with ladies shouting for people to buy their milk and yogurt. The market also has a website and you can order your groceries online, but the site is all in Chinese.

Carrefour Supermarket ~ A great all around supermarket with Chinese and western supplies. Carrefour sells clothes, furniture, and appliances. A great place to get your items when you first arrive and are looking for the essentials, to tide you over. Carrefour has a APP and online store, but delivery is spotty at times.

WalMart Supermarket ~ Has plenty of stores all over town and is stocked with western selections. Though it is a good place to get the basics when starting your life in Beijing, don’t expect the all-American Walmart experience. The have an APP and will deliver.

Wu Mart Supermarket ~ The dingy version of Walmart. The local supermarket were you can get all your daily needs. They have an APP and a website. I have not tried their delivery service.

IKEA ~ My safe haven during the first few crazy weeks in Beijing. They have everything you need and more. I let my child play around in the kids section and then went to the restaurant for a cheap lunch. The little grocery store past the check out counter has good deals on smoked salmon and other western foods. Sign up for a family membership card for more great deals. The children can play in the kids area while you shop as long as they are over four-years old. IKEA delivers and has guys put together the furniture for a small price. These furniture assembly persons work clean and efficiently.

METRO Supermarket ~ A new gem in my supermarket days, this is a wholesale grocery store that sells everything you need. The store is also very clean and calm. You need to create a membership card but this is very easy! Shop over RMB 2000 and get same-day home delivery!

April Gourmet ~ A international supermarket with high prices. While I usually visit this store for certain items like sugar free yogurt, almost all your western grocery supplies can be found here.

Jenny Lou’s ~ While this international supermarket has high prices, Jenny Lou’s also has fresh baked pretzels to make up for it. You can shop till you drop and they will deliver. Be sure to check the expiration dates on goods since sometimes they are expired.

MINISO Store ~ The closest thing I could find to a Pound or Dollar store. Some great prices for daily essentials, office supplies and some small fun kids toys. MINISO stores are opening all over Beijing.

Sanyuanli Market ~ A food market with fruit, vegetables, and international food stalls. Sanyuanli Market is a great place to get some hard to find foods and fresh herbs like rosemary and basil. Find a stall and keep going every week, they will get to know you and be more fair with their prices. I usually get all my nuts and dried fruits here. All the way in the back they sell kitchen wares. There are more food markets over town, find a list here.

BHG Market Place ~ An upscale supermarket where you can find almost everything you need – but for a high price. Stores are clean and neat. This chain store has a good selection of imported foods and great customer service.

• A list of food markets and resources can be found here.
• More supermarkets and addresses can be found here.
• Addresses for Carrefour and Walmart Supermarkets locations can be found here.
• Another helpful list for shopping can be found here.

Pauline van Hasselt has been working for beijingkids since October 2016. Born in Wassenaar, The Netherlands, she moved with her husband and her 3 year-old daughter to Beijing in June of last year. Prior she lived in the Netherlands, Belgium, Paraguay, Texas, and London, studying and working as a chef. Pauline enjoys biking around Beijing, finding markets and new restaurants, reading crime and fantasy books in bed, and most importantly, turning her house into a home for her family.

A huge fire broke out at the Shuangjing Carrefour around 3pm with heavy smoke and open flames seen spouting from the outlet, according to Xinhua news agency.

the Beijinger Managing Editor Steven Schwankert was at the scene and posted this blog as well as more photos on our sister site.

Photos from China Daily

When it comes to purchasing items for their kids, foreign parents in Beijing rarely take advantage of low-priced local brands – safety comes first when junior’s concerned, and many parents prefer to spend a little more on imported brands they know they can trust. Of course, Beijing’s expats hail from all over the globe, and different folks are loyal to different labels on the international market. We conducted an informal survey of the city’s families to find out which brands experienced parents seek out, and where they do their shopping. Here’s what we found.

North American Parents
Good quality clothing is getting easier to find in Beijing reports American mom Eliot Bikales. For standard kids’ clothing, Bikales regularly shops at Decathlon. “Their clothes hold up well, and with four active kids, that’s important,” she says. Bikales occasionally finds GAP seconds at local markets or at the stores in Pinnacle Plaza – she likes this brand because there’s no guesswork involved in the sizes. To cater to the more alternative tastes of her 11-year-old daughter Maral, Bikales turns to the Internet, buying goth gear from fashion website Hot Topic.

For sporting gear and clothing, Angela Mueller, also from the States, is another Decathlon fan. “The equipment we bought there a year ago is still in great shape, and the clothes are washing and wearing very well,” she states happily.

For kids’ parties, Mueller shops at Exquisite, and she particularly recommends their Wilton baking supplies. “Exquisite has all kinds of party supplies, children’s custom cakes and decorations. The Wilton baking supplies allow you to create your own cake, which is great fun for kids. They also have classes, which are a great activity for the children as well.”

African Parents
Foreign parents who speak Chinese are often more comfortable buying Chinese brands, observes Cecil Pollydore, a father of three from Guyana. “Those foreigners who travel back and forth will bring things back from home, but those of us who settle in Beijing learn to make do with what is here.”

For the widest range of international kid’s items, he tends to rely on the stores at Scitech Plaza and the Yansha Shopping Mall, although he warns that items bought here are on the expensive side.

“When I first moved to Beijing several years ago, reliable children’s products were hard to find – now, there are more products to choose from every passing day,” says Pollydore. “I find that if you’re willing to go walking and searching through the local markets, you can find good prices and quality.”

Pollydore’s preferred hunting grounds include the Alien Street Market and lesser-known Dongjiao Market (southeast of Soho New Town on Dawang Lu). Some local brands Pollydore has come to trust are Goodbaby (for strollers and other gear) and Anta (for kids‘ shoes). “Anta is cheap, good quality, and not fake,” he reports.

European Parents
Dutch daddy Michael Sahlsberg laments that the “practically indestructible” handmade items like cotton diapers and woolen baby underwear he buys in his wife’s native Sweden aren’t available in Beijing. He manages to import some, however, from Ullrike. But there’s a hazard involved with purchasing this website’s quality clothing: “Your baby won’t need so many layers of clothing and a father on his own will soon find himself cornered by local pensioners screaming ta leng (she’s too cold)!”

Middle Eastern Parents

Peter Marvian from the United Arab Emirates hasn’t yet needed to import any products for young Sam, finding most of his needs answered at supermarkets like Hualian, Carrefour, and Ito Yakado. In terms of specific brands, Marvian goes for the reliable Japanese baby products label Pigeon and for internationally recognized Johnson and Johnson. For strollers and children’s furniture, Marvian is happy with the cheaper stuff on offer at Five Star Market on the North Third Ring Road.

East Asian Parents
Korean products enjoy a good reputation for quality, and Korean import stores in the Wangjing area serve the local Korean community well. Little Soo Hong’s mother, Kandy Choi, shops at Ice Cream for kid’s clothing from Korea. The quality is good, Choi reports, but she warns that the stuff is “not that cheap.”

Like many foreigners in Beijing, local father Li Xianming recommends Johnson and Johnson, saying that it’s the international brand that Chinese parents respect the most. “It’s known to be non-allergenic, and safe for kids with sensitive skin,” he explains. As for local products, he has great respect for San Lu baby milk brand, but now often shops for imported Nestlé. It’s getting easier and easier to buy good imported products in China,” he says, “as smaller supermarkets are now stocking wider varieties and better brands.”