Shopping & Services

Buying the band

By Mike Fuksman (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-06 11:39

Musicians new to the Beijing scene might wonder where they're going to find that new guitar or drumset. Fear not. There is a whole street in Beijing dedicated to music shops.

Guitars: Solo (129 Xinjiekou Nandajie)

has a great selection of instruments, from 5-string Ibanez basses (4,800 yuan, $702) to Takamine acoustics (3,500 yuan). There is an array of small practice amps, as well as a decent collection of effects pedals and accessories.

Hengyun Musical Instruments Co. (105 Xinjiekou Nandajie) has racks of guitars, mostly Epiphones and Gibsons. You can snag an Epiphone SG on the cheap (2,900 yuan) or shell out the big bucks for a Gibson Les Paul '59 Reissue (38,000 yuan). You'll also find bigger amplifiers here; you can get the classic Marshall JCM 800 amplifier head for 11,800 yuan and a matching 4x12 speaker cabinet for 6,000 yuan.

Strings and horns: At XiangRuiShengHua Music (113 Xinjiekou Nandajie), you'll find all sorts of brass, ranging from trombones (1,800 yuan) to alto saxophones (4,750 yuan). Next door at the Sike violin shop, you can find classical stringed instruments of all sizes, with prices ranging from 280 yuan for beginner instruments to 12,000 yuan for pro-level violins.

Drums: Ocean Musical Instrument Company (126 Xinjiekou Nandajie)

has a good selection of Mapex and Pearl drum kits, from a Pearl Export 5-piece (4,688 yuan) to a Mapex M-Birch 4-piece (7,500 yuan).

Traditional Chinese instruments: There are a dozen shops selling these, but Li Pengda (125 Xinjiekou Nandajie) has one of the widest selections. You can snag a guzheng for 3,800 yuan, the two-stringed erhu for a mere 680 yuan, and the lute-like liuqin for 1,800 yuan.