In the early 1900s printed advertisements suddenly hit Beijing like a tsunami. Newspapers and pictorials popped up like mushrooms  and the way Beijing was visually presented changed completely. It was the occupation of the capital in 1900 by the Eight-allied-nations that had created a safe breeding ground for publishing houses. 

Before this, no western style newspapers had been able to gain a foothold in the capital. The newspaper houses were in the Dashilar area where our gallery shop is placed today, that inspired us to have a look at these first advertisements of Beijing. 

We have used this plentiful visual material to create a bag featuring everything from Santa Claus, beautiful women with short hair and unbound natural feet, the Qianmen gate, rickshaws and the tramway all representing the western style modernity that was now creeping up on the city.

Chinese Santa – Western and traditional Chinese elements merged together in the visual language of the printed advertisement. This silk add is promoting the winter solstice collection using Santa Claus as the poster boy.

Beijing’s Eiffel Tower – The Qianmen gate became a popular iconic landmark in the advertisements. Especially after it had been completely redesigned by the German architect Curt Rothkegel. The Da Qianmen cigarette brand was established in 1916 and is sold to this day.

A new breed of customers – In republican Beijing women became a very important group of customers. Where during the Ming and Qing dynasties women were living semi-secluded in the back of residential courtyards, they were now out in the open and directly targeted by marketing.

Tramway – new means of transportations like the tramway and rickshaw often featured in the Republican advertisements.