Here's a link for what shopping is like here:

http://www.magma.ca/~mtooker/tips/beijtips.htm

"I am going to say this just once, and you can happily ignore my advice if you choose: no matter how selective you are, and how hard you think you can bargain, you will get better quality goods at a price that gives better value, by shopping at a large, fancy department store than by dickering on the street or at a market stall for clothes or handicrafts. And you will never walk away from a fancy department store checking the items in your bag, counting your change, and wondering if you have just been ripped off.

The 5th floor of the Lufthansa Centre (a.k.a. You Yi Shopping City) is a good place to shop for Chinese handicrafts such as jade, silk, ceramics, combs, fans, etc., etc., etc. Just be careful crossing the road (Dongsanhuan Beilu) to get there! There are bigger and better shopping areas around town though - such as Wangfujing Street just east of Tiananmen Square (including an amazing 8-storey mall with every manner of western style goods and handicrafts to boot), the Hongqiao Market directly opposite the east side of the Temple of Heaven Park (like a department store full of privately run stalls), the Silk Market in an alley just east of the big Friendship Department Store on Jianguomen Wai Avenue, and the clothes market on the street on the west side of Ritan Park (2 blocks north of the Friendship Department Store). I found tons of great children's clothes by shopping in the kids' departments of Chinese department stores. The staff were very helpful, with practically nothing but miming necessary to tell them how big, what color, etc. "