大运河和通惠河的开通,极大地促进了北京的工商业,再加上传统的通往东北、大草原的北路,通往西亚、波斯的丝绸之路和新开辟的通向中亚、里海北岸的陆路,使大都很快成为当时世界最大的商贸中心。大都有各种专门集市30多处,主要商市集中在三处。一处是钟鼓楼下、积水潭边。由于积水潭是河、海水运的终点,所以这儿沿潭边密密麻麻地挤满了销售各种商品的商店、货栈以及歌台酒楼,是当时元大都最繁华的闹市,被称为斜街市。斜街市主要有盐铁、珠宝、布帛、家禽等交易。另一处是现今东四西南,当时的大都文明门(崇文门)齐化门(朝阳门)一带。这儿是通惠河入京的必经之处,沿岸排列着许多江南客商的商店、仓库,以粮食交易为主,也有其他商品,叫旧枢密院市。第三处是打西北路至大都的羊角市,在大都城西偏 The opening of the Grand Canal and Tonghui River has greatly promoted Beijing’s industry and commerce, coupled with the traditional North Road to the northeast and prairie, the Silk Road to West Asia and Persia, and the newly opened access to Central Asia, The land along the northern coast of the Caspian Sea has quickly become the largest commercial and trade center in the world. There are more than 30 specialized marketplaces in major cities, and the major commercial markets are concentrated in three places. One is the Drum Tower, downstairs, and the edge of Jishuitan. Because Jishuitan is the terminal of rivers and seawaters, it is crowded with shops, warehouses, and Getai restaurants selling various goods along the edge of the lake. It was the most prosperous city in the capital of Yuan Dynasty and was known as Xiecheng. In Xiecheng, there are mainly trades such as salt and iron, jewellery, cloth and poultry. The other is the present-day southwest of the Fourth Kingdom of the East. At that time, the most part of the city was the Civilization Gate (Chongwenmen) and the Qihuan Gate (Chaoyangmen). This is where the Tonghui River enters Beijing. The shops and warehouses of many Jiangnan merchants are lined up along the coast, and there are other commodities, called the old Privy Council City. The third place is the northwest road to the city of Yangon in the capital city.