Xian, being one of the most rapidly grown cities in western China, has a number of commercial and shopping hubs. There are big shopping centres, supermarkets and department stores throughout the city, especially along Dong Dajie, Nan Dajie and Jiefang Lu. These sell everything from souvenirs and local products to gifts and necessities.
Among the different shopping malls in the city, Kaiyuan Shopping Mall is one of the most popular one. It is situated between the Bell tower and Drum tower. Century Ginwa Shopping Mall is another place to buy high quality and exclusive products from brands like Bally, Dior, Burberry, Givenchy, Estee Lauder, Lancome and others.
Some of the well known supermarkets in the city are Hao You Duo (Trust-Mart), Vanguard, Ren Ren Le, Ai Jia (IGA) and Yi Chu Lian Hua (Lotus Supercenter).
The Xian Antique Market located near the Small Wild Goose Pagoda is a good place to buy antique furniture, coin and other things. Peasant Painting Gallery is another place where one can buy Shaanxi folk crafts and paintings.
Some of the specialties of this region include the folk paintings, calligraphy rubbings, paper cutting, green porcelain, terracotta warriors of different types and sizes ranging from a few inches to life size souvenirs and tang pottery replicas.
The standard rate of VAT charged on sale and import of goods and supply of certain services in Qingdao is 17%. 13% VAT is applied on products such as books and types of oils.
Duty free shops are present in the International Departure Hall of the Xi’an Xianyang International Airport where different products can be purchased at great price.
