Throwback Thursday: An Ode to Chez "The French Shop" Gérard, Supplier of Dongcheng's Cheese

Throwback Thursday takes a look back into Beijing's past, using our nine-year-strong blog archives as the source for a glance at the weird and wonderful of yesteryear.

For eight years now, Chez Gérard, more affectionately known as The French Shop, has been providing Beijing's Dongcheng District community with cheese, tinned goods, cheap beer, and various other imported items.

Since opening their original location back in May 2009, they have since expanded and added a neighboring room to cram in even more goodies to help maintain the cosmic balance among foreigners wanting to cook meals away from home.

The shop has built a strong and loyal following among both foreigners and locals, especially for their fresh meats, cheeses, yoghurt, and bread. They also sell a good range of fresh herbs, icnluding mint, basil, mixed salads, and arugula. 

As someone who lives right next to the store, I couldn't really imagine life without the convenience of so many great imported and Western products so close by. This is especially true considering that the next closest imported goods supermarket is the BHG Market Place inside Raffles City at Dongzhimen, with its significantly inflated prices, or the Jenny Lou's off Dongzhimen Waidajie.

We can only pray that they aren't affected by the ongoing hutong demolitions. For now all we must exclaim is viva The French Shop!

More stories by this author here.

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Photos: Tom O'Malley