Xinhua Jie Pedestrian Street

Xinhua Jie is Yinchuan's oldest and busiest commercial street, running through the historic Xingqing District a few blocks from Nanguan Mosque and Yinchuan's old Drum Tower. Unlike Yinchuan's newer shopping malls, the street is lined with a mix of multi-story department stores, small independent boutiques, and specialty shops selling goods distinctive to Ningxia, including Helan stone carvings (ink stones and decorative pieces cut from stone quarried in the nearby Helan Mountains) and flannelette blankets, a local textile specialty. Larger department stores such as Xinhua Commercial Mall anchor the street and stock national and regional clothing brands, electronics, and cosmetics, while smaller stalls and shopfronts sell tourist souvenirs, dried Ningxia goji berries, and everyday household goods. Authenticity varies by shop: department store goods are standard branded retail, while goji berries and Helan stone items sold by street vendors range from genuine regional products to mass-produced imitations, so buyers should compare a few stalls before purchasing. Prices in the department stores are fixed and paid by card or mobile payment (WeChat Pay and Alipay are near-universal), while small stallholders often expect cash and are open to modest bargaining, particularly for souvenirs and stone carvings. Ningxia has no personal tax-refund scheme for casual shoppers, so receipts are for record only. The street is pedestrianized and busiest in the early evening, when food stalls selling Yinchuan snacks such as saozi noodles and grilled skewers open alongside the shops, giving the strip a lively, mixed shopping-and-eating atmosphere well into the night.