Zhonghai Dajixiang. Ich war sehr überrascht beim ersten Anblick. Und dann?

On the Sunday of the week before the Dragon Boat Festival, Zhonghai Daji Alley in Caishikou, Xicheng District, opened for business.

It was very popular. On the opening day, the passenger flow exceeded 200,000. During the three - day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the passenger flow exceeded 500,000. According to official data, its passenger flow during the Dragon Boat Festival was comparable to that of Chaoyang Hesheng Mall.

The flower wall of Daji Alley

On social media, Daji Alley also became a hot topic, and the reading volume of related topics exceeded ten million. Many people came to stroll around, experience it, and take photos. Just a few days after its opening, Daji Alley had several nicknames such as "Taikooli in the South City" and "Caiguli".

Out of curiosity, the author decided to experience this legendary different shopping mall. As usual, the author searched for guides on a certain platform and found a very interesting phenomenon. Netizens' evaluations of Daji Alley were extremely polarized.

I want to come again after visiting. It's not pretentious, not shabby, and not in a mess;

It's a rare place in the city center of Beijing that is very urban;

The atrium building is very beautiful and worth a visit. Although it's a bit imperfect, it's really the new light of the South City. It's decent!

It's not as interesting as the hutongs. I didn't remember anything after walking through it;

The grocery category is okay, but I'm not interested in the rest. It lacks a fast - fashion clothing brand;

The business investment is very strange. There are all kinds of massage and nail salons downstairs, and there aren't many well - known first - tier brands upstairs. It feels like a flea market;

With such a big contrast in evaluations, what is Daji Alley really like? With this question in mind, we went to the mall to find the answer.

01

After the novelty fades

On a weekday afternoon, the author came to Daji Alley. First of all, the transportation deserves a compliment. It is adjacent to Caishikou Street on the west and Luomashi Street on the north. You can drive directly to Xidan, Niujie, and the South Second Ring Road. If you take the subway, Exit C of Caishikou Station, the transfer station of Line 4 and Line 7, leads directly to the B1 floor of Daji Alley, allowing you to start shopping without extra walking.

The subway leads directly to Daji Alley

The Caishikou area in Xicheng District has always lacked large - scale commercial complexes. Residents mainly rely on Xidan and Chongwenmen, which are a bit farther away, for shopping. The emergence of Daji Alley just fills the gap in the regional commerce, providing a shopping and leisure place at the doorstep for nearby residents. In addition, the architectural style of Daji Alley is eye - catching. Whether it's the underground or the above - ground buildings, a large number of traditional elements can be seen, such as blue bricks, gray tiles, overhanging flower gates, and screen walls, which are traditional architectural symbols.

In the above - ground block, the buildings in the western area are all built in the style of quadrangles, blending with cultural relic protection buildings such as Kang Youwei's former residence, giving consumers the experience of strolling in a quadrangle. From this perspective, Daji Alley is a very Beijing - style shopping mall.

The buildings of Daji Alley

As a non - standard commercial complex, Daji Alley has made great efforts in enriching the experience scenarios. The courtyard - style block form enables the indoor and outdoor areas to interact. The leisure feeling outdoors is integrated with the functionality of indoor commerce, breaking the boundaries and making the consumption experience more three - dimensional. There is also a central sunken square shaped like a tulou, a stepped garden square, and diverse green space landscapes, etc., creating a more immersive and emotional experience space for the public.

The social space in Daji Alley

The social space in Daji Alley

Moreover, some of the commercial brands introduced to Daji Alley are refreshing. For example, Dongfang Jing, which conveys the aesthetics of a new Chinese - style lifestyle, allows people to feel a strong atmosphere of oriental art in a space with clothing, tea, incense, and porcelain as carriers. Another example is the joint - customized store of RE and le coq sportif, which has a specially designed terrace area in the Chinese - style building, allowing people to experience the beauty of the integration of cycling culture and leisure life...

The characteristic brands in Daji Alley

After affirming the advantages, let's talk about the deficiencies.

First of all, the positioning seems to be unclear. According to official information, Daji Alley is positioned as a "city living room". However, the Caishikou area where it is located is an inner - city living area with a large population. From this point of view, it is fundamentally different from Xidan, Wangfujing, and even Sanlitun. It is unlikely to become a living room for all Beijingers or tourists from other places. It should be a living room that meets the regional consumption needs.

However, the business forms in Daji Alley lack a sense of daily life. There are no supermarkets or cinemas, which are necessary for daily life. Among the more than 60 catering brands, there are almost no characteristic small restaurants and small bars suitable for residents' leisure. Instead, fast - food and tea - beverage brands such as Xijiade, Majiyong, and Ba Wang Cha Ji, which are standard in office buildings and business scenarios, become the main players here with nearly 40 stores.

Tea - beverage brands

Tea - beverage brands

Secondly, the scenarios are all show and no substance, lacking content. According to the staff of Zhonghai Commercial, Daji Alley first determined the cultural story line and then built the framework and filled in the content. At present, apart from the architecture, the "local culture" is hardly reflected in other aspects, and the content is really lacking. Take the sunken square and the stepped garden square, which are the characteristics of Daji Alley, as examples. Since its opening, the sunken square has only been used for display and has not been utilized for relevant activities according to its own characteristics. Except for some music performances on weekends, there is no other presentation in the stepped garden square.

In contrast, THE BOX Chaowai, a trendy fashion landmark, uses the central open - air square as a content carrier. From street performances and art exhibitions to camping markets and Livehouse performances, a series of continuous activities have made it a symbol of youth culture, enhancing young people's cultural identity with the project.

The sunken square

Let's also look at the brands and first - stores that are frequently mentioned in Daji Alley's promotion. According to official information, Daji Alley has introduced more than 150 characteristic brands, and more than 50% are first - stores or customized stores. However, after the author's actual experience, it was found that both the number of brands and the proportion of first - stores or customized stores are more of a gimmick.

According to statistics from the official WeChat account information and the project floor plan, there are about 120 brands settled in Daji Alley, not the more than 150 as advertised. The proportion of first - stores or customized stores is not more than 50%, but about 30%.

Regarding the first - stores in the project, they are mainly concentrated in the catering and clothing sectors, such as the national first - store of Tihu Xiaoguan, the Beijing first - store of Shan Xiajian, the Beijing first - store of Youyun, the national first - store of Zhurushi, the national first - store of Dongfang Jing, etc. There are also some outdoor brand stores, such as the national first - store of the joint - customized cycling store of RE and Le Coq Sportif, the Beijing first - store of WILD THINGS, etc.

Some brands

In recent years, the quantity and quality of first - stores have been important indicators to measure the vitality of a commercial complex. But returning to the essence of business, first - stores should, on the premise of conforming to the commercial positioning, create a new quality of life for their customer groups, and so should the brands other than first - stores. Daji Alley, which mainly targets the surrounding residents, some first - stores or brands don't seem to fit its style. For example, Zhiyang Store may fit better with trendy places like Chaoyang Joy City and THE BOX Chaowai. And Zhongxia Wuyu, which features Lolita style, is more suitable for Wangfujing Xiyue, a paradise for trendy toys...

Some brands

In addition, brand homogenization is also a problem that Daji Alley cannot avoid. Taking the sundry goods brands as an example, in a commercial area of 80,000 square meters, there are several brand stores such as Miniso, Wanding, Jiumu Sundries, The Green Party, and O.C.E.

Finally, let's talk about the author's real experience. Daji Alley needs to improve in terms of details. The whole mall, including the cultural relic protection building on the west side, has a strong smell of decoration. The author felt very choked even with a mask on. The situation of the restrooms is also not ideal. Moreover, there is a lack of rest space. On the B1 floor, except for a few stores with their own seats, there is no place to rest in the entire public area. Near the trash cans, the author saw many smokers, and no mall staff came out to stop them.

The B2 space in Daji Alley

Whether it's the curiosity about the non - standard space or the resonance with historical culture, the current popularity of Daji Alley mainly comes from the public's novelty. After the novelty wears off, what can Daji Alley, which carries the Xuannan culture, rely on to achieve long - term survival?

Operation may be the only answer. Cao Kai, the manager of the Strategic Consulting Department of CBRE North China, told the author that the renewal of historical blocks needs to break through the binary opposition between protection and utilization and promote the transformation of historical blocks from trading places to regener