When you have spent some time in Beijing, and you have seen a great number of these shops, it become easier and easier to recognize if their offer is attractive - both in terms of quality and prices - or if the owners try to make a quick buck on your back.

Nan Chi Zi street harbors a number of such shops, and I found one there which I think should be told about. Like many others, it offers handmade objects from the Chinese minorities, but also some "purely Beijing" items which are worth a second look.

The shop is a happy capharnam, by which I mean an organized disorder of hundred of small items which could each be offered as surprising, unusual gifts of ethnic flavor.

Amongst the articles offered, I noticed a pendant from Shandong made in a red cotton cord; a "happiness doll" from the province of Hebei; several ethnic minority figurines from the Yunnan province; and small clay sculptures which had been handcrafted in Beijing.

In the Chinese language, the happiness dolls are called Huan Xi Wa Wa (pronounced as something like 'Juan Chihuahua' with the "J" pushed out from the throat like "Juan" in Castillan Spanish). They are a symbol of life-long bonding for newlyweds. The perfect gift for a wedding, you sure won't be copied by anyone else.

The Chinese people place a great importance on such symbols, and they frequently offer each other things which mean luck, wealth, good health, longevity, and love.

In my Beijing home, I hung the kind of red pendents we find at this shop. I have a heart-shaped pendent made in compressed Pu'Er tea with two red braided lanyards. The Ya Xuan shop offers them in shapes of zodiac animals, Chinese 'good luck' characters, and fish.

If you check this shop out, don't overlook the painted clay figurines reproducing gates of old Beijing residences. Made according to ancient clay-modeling techniques, these genuine works of art bear a rather exquisite level of details.

The clay figurines reproduce with great accuracy the time-worn doorsteps of these courtyards. The artist even added a super realistic touch: the weeds which adorn the walls and tiles of many a courtyard home.

In my book they would make a very cool gift for passionate collectors or for a child interested in small-scale models and mini-dolls.