People say that there are three things you can't leave Beijing without trying: climbing the Great Wall, eating Beijing Duck and visiting the Panjiayuan Flea Market. While everyone is very aware of the significance of the first two "must-dos", the latter remains something of a mystery to the average tourist.

The Panjiayuan Flea Market is located at the west side of the Panjiayuan Bridge on the Southern part of the capital's East Third Ring Road.

All sorts of bric-a-brac is sold in the market, browsing around the place you'll find a myriad of items ranging from antique paintings, jade and agate, pottery and ancient coils, to traditional furniture, ethnic dresses, relics from the Cultural Revolution, and various kinds of folk arts handicrafts. The list goes on.

Occupying an area of about 48,500 square meters, the market is thought to be the largest of its kind both in China and Asia. It is more like a huge bazaar with over 3,000 regular stalls, at which ten thousand people ply their trade. The peddlers come from 24 different provinces and regions of China. Among them, ethnic minorities such as Manchu, Hui, Miao, Mongolian, Tibetan, Dong, and Wei are most eye-catching, dressed in their colorful and unique clothing. It is no exaggeration to claim that there are more goods on sale here than you'd see in any museum. There're are enough swords to equip a small army, enough musical instruments to form any style of band, and enough costumes to meet the needs of any opera troupe.

The flea market first appeared in early 1992. At that time, many workers that were laid-off from the state-owned enterprises began to set up stalls to sell their spare electrical appliances and furniture on the streets. Later, the market grew as peddlers from other parts of the city moved in. One problem emerged-the massive amount of peddlers began to block the flow of traffic. In 1995, the street government office began to take care of this matter and allocated 3.5 million yuan to develop an open field so that the peddlers could sell their goods there. More recently, authorities in Beijing's Chaoyang District put more money into revamping the market, transforming it into an elegant and comfortable place to shop.

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