Where True ‘Beijingers’ Grocery Shop: Sanyuanli Market

Tianyu Market is my main market now to do the majority of my grocery shopping- it’s in my hood so it’s conveniently located where I live (Tuanjiehu) and it covers most of my basic needs (fruits, veggies, spices, grains, stationary, household goods, electronics, etc.). And while they also have a separate building selling seafood and meats, truth be told, I’m too scared to step foot inside with all the fish guts all over the floor and some funky-looking specimens inside. *I know, I’m a pansy.*

So knowing my own limitations, I was thrilled to be introduced to Sanyuanli Market. This is my kind of place – the stalls and its products are clean, organized, and actually presentable. And the best part is that you don’t need to deal with the hassle of bargaining.  Prices are what they are – low and a great bargain.

This is THE market to get quality, fresh live seafood – everything from giant chunks of salmon to live trout and lobster.

In the fresh meat section, you can find everything from pig’s feet, chicken feet, and a giant lamb carcass to boneless, skinless chicken breast – I recommend paying a visit to the chicken lady (photo below).  All meat is presented in silver trays and cut on wood blocks and weighed all in front of you.

Sanyuanli's Chicken Lady

You may think that fruit and veggies are the same everywhere with little difference in price, and for the most part, this is generally true, but Sanyuanli carries some hard-to-find items like passionfruit and fresh mint, thyme, and basil. The more exotic fruits and vegetables are sold at an especially low price, considering most of them are imported.  A pack of 10 passionfruits is approx. RMB 25, box of fresh blueberries is RMB 18 (sold for RMB 23 at Tianyu market and RMB 25 at Jenny Lou’s). For veggies, I recommend the tomato lady and stall #91 (both photos below).

As someone who is rarely home and always on the go, I’m a big fan of products that either expire very slowly or not at all. For me, the dried fruit & nuts section is reason alone for me to make regular trips out to Sanyuanli. I recommend the lady at stall #15. I’m a big fan of her dried banana chips (no sugar added), almonds, walnuts, dried cranberries, goji berries, pine nuts, apricots, etc. With the exception of walnuts and more expensive nuts, most individual bags of fruits and nuts run between RMB 10-20 each and sampling is encouraged. 

Another highlight of Sanyuanli market is the imported goods shop, stall #31 which sells blocks of cheese, cereals, baked goods packets, freshly sliced prosciutto ham, cold cuts, canned goods, olive oil, sauces like BBQ sauce! and mustard, etc. I stocked up on Betty Crocker cookie mix packets for only RMB 18 each.  Needless to say, everything you find here will be cheaper than Jenny Lou’s and April Gourmet.

Happy shopping!