Place to Go

The hidden world of Wudaoying Hutong

(BeijingToday)
Updated: 2009-09-17 11:00

Hutong shops are the Beijing alternative to shopping malls. The most well-known among these neighborhood alleys is Nan Luoguxiang, which is rarely missing from the itinerary of tourists.

West of the Lama Temple is Wudaoying Hutong, which some people dub “the next Nan Luoguxiang.” Wudaoying’s collection of shops is growing, but it still provides the brand of peace and tranquility people seek out in hutong.

Second-hand fashion with a heart

The owner, Xiangzi, opened Brand Nü, a small second-hand store last month after coming back from Canada and feeling a need to pay things forward. “I felso lucky to have a good job, a happy family and the opportunity to have lived abroad for two years as a TV director. As a Buddhist, I thought maybe it was time that I do something for others,” he said.Half of the store products are given by Xiangzi’s friends, most of who are women who shop regularly and own many things they do not use. There are piles of clothes in a variety of styles; shoppers will feel like they’re rummaging thugh an old wardrobe. Shirts cost from 10 to 80 yuan, while jeans, no matter which brand, go for 50 yuan.

Brand Nü welcomes donations, which make up a part of its inventory. “I set aside the relatively new and valuablstuff – by which I don’t mean expensive but attractive. The rest are given to people in poor areas,” Xiangzi sayThe shop also teams up with NGOs such as One Foundation, Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women and Xingeng Workshop to sell handicrafts made by women from impoverished rural communities. At Brand Nü, customers can find traditional baby shoes, handmade cushions, wallets and other original-design household ites. The profit from these items is given to the NGOs to finance their future projects.The shop has yet to recover its capital, but Xiangzi has his family’s support to continue the venture. “It’s like a platform where I bring together NGOs, designers and customers to generate money for poor women in rural areas,” he says.The former TV fashion director’s next project is to alter some of the second-hand clothes working with the students at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology – to make them more trendy and attractive. The stop also plans to deal in second-hand books.

Brand Nü

Where: 61 Wudaoying Hutong, Dongcheng District

Open: 10:30 am – 10 pm Tel: 15011153421