The store that's about to open is not very large, although it probably will be about around the size of the current DG lifestyle store at The Place on Dongdaqiao Road.

DG lifestyle stores are in two other places in Beijing, as well as all over Hong Kong, and in Macao and Singapore. Designer Group has been in business since 1994.

Meanwhile, MacInChina by BeiMac has learnt of two more openings. One of these new shops is slated for an August 8, 2007 opening at Shangdu SOHO, not far away from the DG lifestyle store at The Place. Also, another store -- this one more a "Mac cultural center" -- is likely to open up at the e-World shopping mall in Beijing's tech hub, Zhongguancun. The opening date is around August 18, 2007.

Beijing's Mac shops have increased in leaps and bounds since the early 2002 low of a solitary store at Dongdaqiao/Landao. There are currently over 17 Mac and iPod stores in the northwestern tech hub of Zhongguancun alone.

It is important to note that the new stores underway are Apple-authorized resellers only; they are not actual Apple Stores operated by Apple China. The Greater China area does not have a single brick-and-mortar Apple Store yet.