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The most large-scaled shopping place of the city is Guanghe shopping mall. On the first floor you can buy distinctive Miao People silver jewelry. Meini Supermarket is also a good place for shopping. In addition, there are two commercial pedestrian streets: Renmin Square Pedestrian Street and Tianzi Street. Along both streets lie stores that sell all sorts of local specialties to tourists.
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In the following I will list those specialties that you wouldn’t want miss when you come to Zhangjiajie.
Let’s start from food. Gegenfen (powder extracted from the root of Kudzu vine), Yan’er (looks like black fungus, very precious since they grow in the cliffs, highly nutritious), wild Kiwi fruit (as big as an egg, very delicious), slated and dried bean curd made in Sangzhi county (once a kind of food of tribute to emperors). In terms of tea, Duzhong Tea is very famous (Duzhong is a kind of medical herb, this tea helps losing weight and balancing the blood pressure). Besides, there are Maojian Tea made in Maoping County and Lobster Herbal Tea (recommended for banquets in many hotels of Zhangjiajie).
Then let’s look at the handicrafts. Stone artifacts made of turtle stones (stones that have texture like the shell of turtles). These artifacts are delicate and the images are lifelike. Tujia Brocade, made from cotton yarn and colorful thread, was once on the list of articles of tribute to the emperors. Tujia Brocade is an indispensible part of Tujia People’s clothes, house decoration, and is given as a gift to loves, friends. Another interesting handicraft is Tujia stickers, which is made of tree roots, barks, branches, leaves, grasses, sand and stones and cloth. Tujia stickers present the local beauty, hence popular among visitors to Zhangjiajie.
All the specialties can be bought from specialty stores or stalls both at downtown and in the scenic spots. Finally I want to mind you that don’t buy those things that are claimed to be “rare rocks” or “valuable medical herbs”, unless you are an expert.