ShoppingTemple of Heaven, Xiannongtan & Liulichang
HONGQIAO MARKET (THE PEARL MARKET) · HONGQIAO SHICHANG
☾ ✦
Temple of Heaven, Xiannongtan & Liulichang · 39.885°N 116.414°E
Pay as you consumeClosure day
The five-storey indoor market across the road from the Temple of Heaven's East Gate that has been 'the Pearl Market' to foreign visitors since the 1990s — freshwater pearls by the strand on the upper floors, electronics, bags, watches and souvenirs below, and a roof terrace with the best free view of the blue hall. Everything is haggled; nothing is priced. It survives because tour buses stop here, which is exactly why you should know the rules before you go in.
EntranceLine 5 Tiantan East Gate station, Exit B, then 5-7 minutes north-east along Tiantan East Rd; the main entrance faces the park's east gate
Last verified 2026-09-11
Beat the crowds
Tour groups arrive 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00; the pearl floors are calmest right at opening and in the last hour. Weekends bring domestic shoppers to the ground floors, not the pearls.
Language
The pearl dealers speak transactional English (and often Russian, Korean, Japanese); prices are typed on calculators. Nothing is labelled.