When my friend and I decided to go to Beijing for a short trip, I knew I definitely wanted to visit the Forbidden City. To make my Forbidden City visit more memorable, I decided to do a Beiiing hanfu makeover and tour the Forbidden City dressed as a Chinese princess.
I did some research on Xiaohongshu and narrowed it down to three shops. I reached out to the three shops on Xiaohongshu and liaised with their customer service on Wechat. In the end, I decided to go with Feng Luan Ge due to availability of time slot and price.
To make it for the Forbidden City morning session which starts at 8.30am, I booked the earliest 8am slot.
If you are doing Beijing hanfu makeover, you will most likely be coming to Wangfu Century building. This entire building located next to Wangfujing shopping street is dedicated to hanfu makeover shops. There are a total of 7 levels, each level is full of hanfu makeover shops.
If you are going to the shops on first floor or basement (take escalator on the left), you can enter from the main entrance. If you are going to the second-fifth floor, use the entrance on the left (when facing the main entrance).
The Feng Luan Ge that I booked with was located on the fourth floor. Red carpets line the floor leading into the shop. There is a rack of princess costumes at near the entrance. There are many other lady costumes as well as some kids costumes and men costumes.
Before the makeup lady started doing my makeup, she asked if I have any particular requirements. I ask for natural makeup. If you are not satisfied with the makeup, they will redo the makeup unless you are satisfied. It took one to do my hair and one to do my makeup simultaneously to finish everything in 45 minutes.
I chose a pink princess costume with a fur vest to keep myself warm in the cold November weather. The price comes with a pair of cloth shoes (to take photographs of with) and two props.
The total cost for costume + makeup + shoes + props is ¥350. There will be ¥1000 refundable deposit for rental of the costume. If you want to hire a photographer to follow you and help you take pictures-perfect photographs, there is an additional ¥200. Payment can be done through Alipay or WeChat pay but always have enough cash in case Alipay doesn’t work.
Most of these hanfu makeover shops does not have English-speaking staff and makeup artists. If any English-speaking friends want to do Beijing hanfu makeover, I can help you to make arrangements. Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested.