Great Wall Supermarket — Local services in Merrifield

As a frequent Asian market shopper, Great Wall delivers consistently low prices and good Asian foods selection. Out of all the Asian markets in the area, Hmart and Great Wall are the only two who offer a great selection of Asian ingredients and cuisine. Many of the others in the area (Grand Mart for example) offer a lot of Hispanic ingredients in comparison.

Great Wall has good prices though they are not always the cheapest. I shop at both Hmart down the street and Great Wall, which lets me compare prices frequently. GW beats Hmart on some items but not on others.

Since this place opened, I can tell it has taken a lot of customers away from the Hmart down the street. It is generally more crowded on the weekends after noon, so if you want easy shopping, always go early in the morning.

Let me comment on each department below: Produce - Very wide selection, lots of stock, good to cheap prices, fresh. Everything from your basic fruits and veggies to more exotic ones like whole jackfruit.

Seafood - a huge seafood area that extends about a third of the back wall. They offer fresh fish, shellfish, etc. and occasionally bring in some special ingredients that you don't usually find anywhere else. These things include geoduck, live crawfish, and live scallops in the shell. Selection varies as only fresh ingredients are offered, but the more common fish are usually always available. I would not recommend buying any of the live fish though, as they don't look very healthy and their tanks don't seem very clean.

Meats - GW offers a butcher's area where you can get various cuts of meat butchered just the way you like it (for the most part). They also offer the standard pre-packed meats. Their selection is very focused on cuts and ingredients used in Chinese/Asian cooking. While they do offer some 'steaks', you don't come here looking for that. But you will find whole ducks, tendons, gizzards, feet and more here.

Pantry - GW has a great selection of Asian pantry items and a smaller selection of Hispanic items. Prices are good and with a sale, can be really great. Selection is somewhat consistent, but they do take items off the shelves here and there.

Cafeteria - GW also offers a cafeteria/bakery at the far end of the store. They offer a great deal for a lunch combo, kind of like Panda Express but with authentic Chinese foods. They also offer Chinese sweet and savory breads and pastries and some select dim sum items. This USED to be my favorite place to get dim sum in the area, but last year they changed their chef or their recipes and the dimsum is terrible.

Overall, GW gets 3 stars from me because I think it could be better maintained. The employees are studious but could be friendlier at times. Selection could be improved and sales could be better advertised. Their website's weekly ad has been broken for 2 years now. Lastly, they lost a star simply because they changed the dim sum and now I once again do not have a go to...

Great Wall holds a special, nostalgic place in my heart. I grew up in the Fairfax area and my parents and I have been frequenting Great Wall for forever. It's not like the Whole Foods of Asian groceries in terms of cleanliness and urbanity, but they have tons of produce and Chinese/Asian goodies. Lots of veggies especially the rarer, harder-to-find Asian ones. I don't usually purchase fruits here since there isn't as much of a selection (mostly just Fuji apples, Asian pears, peaches, grapes, bananas) but you can find unique fruits like dragonfruit here.

There's a seafood section in the back that has a variety of fish, lobster, crabs, shrimp, oysters, etc. There's even live turtles and frogs! They will clean and prepare your fish for you at the store. Next to the seafood section is the meat section where you can request certain meat products by the pound. According to some reviewers, they've gotten sick off the meats but I haven't so far. Just use your best judgment.

Then, there are just aisles and aisles of various Asian goodies like tofu, frozen dumplings, spices, sauces, tea, herbs, both Asian and American snacks and drinks (THEY CARRY GREEN TEA KIT KATS AND POCKY), cooking supplies, and household items like shampoo and laundry detergent.

If you're looking for specific Asian products (especially Chinese), Great Wall is your best bet. They also do seasonal/holiday goodies like moon cakes for Mid-Autumn Festival. Meandering down the aisles, you'll find yourself engulfed in nostalgia as you spot various Asian snacks from your youth.

Great Wall is where I get my hot pot stuff. From veggies to sliced meats to fish balls, egg dumplings, and more, Great Wall has got me covered. They've got a large variety of fish balls in their frozen aisle which you can either buy packaged or by the pound. You can also get the actual stainless steel hot pot, gas powered portable stove, and butane gas here too. A one-stop shop for all your hot pot goodies!

And for all your Asian beauty junkies, Great Wall has a wall dedicated to your Asian skincare products. From Hada Labo to Shiseido, they have cleansers, toners, moisturizers, face masks, and lots more. I even saw that they currently carry the SNP Animal Masks!

In the very back, there's a small food court. They have both dim sum and hot food that's dirt cheap. There's also various bread buns (hello, pineapple and custard!) too. This is a great spot to get hot lunch or even an early dinner. I also love that they prepare roasted duck and pork here;...

As the name of the store suggests, it's an Asian super market, but unlike the most Asian super market around here that are operated by the Koreans, this one is operated by the Chinese, again, as the name suggests. So why does that matter? Because before the Great Wall, if you want buy any food items authentic Chinese, you either have to settle for what they carry in the Korean markets, or cross the Potomac to the Maryland side, and buy them at the Chinese markets there. Now with arrival of the Great Wall, I can buy all the ethnic Chinese frozen food I want without traveling too far, and have many options to choose from. A warning to those that have never been to a Chinese market before, it can be a bit overwhelming and exotic the first few times you shop there, it can feel hectic and chaotic at the time, depending on when you decide on venturing in. I'm Chinese, and I don't like the experiences the first few time that I've shopped there. Now that I have used to the pace of the place, and the management has done a good job at keeping the place in decent order. However, if seeing live sea food swimming in the tanks offends you, stay away from this place. Because that is what they have, a rows of tanks with strip bass, cat fish, lobsters, crabs, and many other sea critters; all alive and breathing, ready to be bought and cleaned. It is the only place that I've been around here that you can get fresh sea food like that, other than at the marina in South West DC. Also lots of fresh meats and fresh vegetables and fruits. They have a section of market that serves cooked Chinese food. I really like their roast yearling pig and roast duck, but that's just me. So if you ever feel like turn your food shopping into an adventure, head on over to the Great Wall.

P. S. It used to be mainly Chinese and south east Asians that shopped at the Great Wall when it first open up. But now I've noticed much more Hispanic, White, Indian, and Middle Eastern shoppers. It seems that the Great Wall is gaining...