Beijing DVDs

Getting Hold of Fake DVDs in Beijing

Although downloading films from the internet has become quite the norm these days one way to avoid getting all those viruses, or using up all your bandwidth for days on end, is to check out the cheap and usually high quality pirated dvds they have for sale all over Beijing.

All the latest films are available and, although they can be got for as cheap as 5yuan (about 35p), expect to pay at least 7yuan or 8yuan for good quality copies with all the dvd extras included. If you are not to bothered about the presentation boxes dvds usually come in you can ask to buy them without the cases (不要盒子 Bú yào hézi) for a discount of 1 yuan or so.

As mentioned, these shops are all over the place but due to recent sporadic police raids they may disappear for a few days or not be as well stocked until the raids have passed over again. If you find a dvd shop that doesn’t seem to have many good dvds don’t give up hope, return a few days later and you may well find that they have everything you want.

If you don’t see what you want, don’t be afraid to ask the shopkeeper if they “stock anything else” (还有其他的dvd吗？Háiyŏu qítāde dvd ma?). Often they will then present you with a catalogue of movies and drama series or just lead you into a back room.

There will be dvd hawkers all over Beijing and you cannot help but come across at least a dozen of them in your travels. However, the quality of their dvds are notoriously unreliable so it is best to find an actual shop. If you get completely lost, a few good stores that can be relied on are listed below. Happy hunting!

DVD Shops in Beijing

1) A small shop just to the left, but separate from, the Yaxiu Market on Gongti Beilu (雅秀市场)

2) Around the right hand side of the same market, down the side alley, you will see a cd/dvd shop. They do not display recent films but if you go in will more than likely ask if you would like to view more and then take you round the corner to a “safe room.”

3) Just to the left of the Poacher’s Inn (a backpacker’s hotspot just off Sanlitun
Beijie – see pubs and clubs section) there is a small corner dvd shop.

4) In the Wudaokou area a very well stocked dvd shop is located opposite the
Wudaokou Hotel (五道口宾馆 wudaokou binguan), around the corner to the right of the Wudaokou Line 12 Subway stop.

5) A favourite with the Chinese dvd buying public is Jishuitan (积水潭). Come out of the tube at exit A and walk straight across the road under the bridge. The street in front of you has several good dvd stores for you to peruse. The Jishuitan stop is on line 2.