Experience Beijing off the beaten path

Have you ever discover unique and unusual things in Beijing? Or do you want to get off the beaten path, or discover the new and cool things in Beijing? Well, there are many hidden and unique things in Beijing. 

Once I had a chance to visit Beijing off the beaten path with my friend. We go for a hutong bike tour. I supposed I have visited every corner of Beijing. I have been living in Beijing for many years and I have lived in different areas of Beijing, but the hutong tour surprises me. We discover many hidden sights. It was really a great experience. 

Exploring Beijing Hutongs

In Beijing, hutongs are the narrow streets or alleys with traditional courtyard houses that represent Beijing history. The real Beijing culture lies in these hutongs. With red doors, grey block walls, and some colorful wood accents these hutongs are the icons of Chinese culture. 

But unluckily, these hutongs are fading off increasingly and replacing by higher modern buildings. However, some hutongs are renovated and they look newly built in the old style. Since the hutongs' alleys are narrow and small, a bike tour is a good way to explore these old houses. 

Biking through the Hutongs

For the hutong tour, I brought my own bike, but if you don’t have your own bike, you can rent a bike. There are many bike renting companies in Beijing. 

My friend joined me in Dongzhimen and we started the tour on the 2nd ring road. When we turned off into a small side street, we found an older area. It was just amazing. The streets were very quiet and peaceful. It was the middle of the city and only a few hunks away from the main 6-lane road. 

We biked through narrow streets in Dongsi and stopped at the Fu Wang Fu mansion. It is one of the three former imperial residences and is known as Prince Gong’s imperial mansion. 

We entered through the great main door and moved into the big courtyard lined by two-story buildings. My friend told me that it is only imperial mansions that have two stories. But you can’t walk inside the buildings. There are two huge stone lions stand outside the mansion. They are larger than the lions stand at the Forbidden City. 

Inside Traditional Courtyard houses

We moved through the narrow streets and reached another courtyard. In the past, a courtyard house was used by one family and had a sequence of open courtyards. But over time, people need more space and they start building houses inside the courtyards. There are many courtyard houses in hutongs. 

Some people are friendly and allow visitors to check out their houses. My friend knows a very friendly family, and they permit us to check out their courtyard. We entered one courtyard house that had the old wooden door built in the old style. 

Then we visited a huge Chongli courtyard house that has some open courtyard space. It was the house of a politician. My friend pointed out some interesting details and special features about the outer walls of the courtyard.

Then we stopped at a large courtyard complex located away in a new-fangled housing area. Now it is used as a high-end restaurant named Gui Gongfu and is nicely renovated in the older style.

It was a really great experience of discovering old traditional areas and places that I not ever found before. However, if I visited the Gulou, it would have been harder to wonder me. But from the last few years, Gulou has lost much of its charm. 

Most Hutongs including the famous Nanluogu Xiang, Dongjiamon, and Yandai Xiejie are located in the middle of the city. Some are high-end restaurants and shopping districts, while some are still empty and quite traditional living houses. 

Biking, Photography, Great Wall camping, and much more

We planned other tours, like architecture tours or photography walks that covers some new and nicely contracted buildings. My friends also organize camp out trips to traditional sights of the great wall. It is great to go on some tours and trips with your friends. 

It is great fun to explore a side of the city that many visitors never see. In Beijing, you can find many unique sights and things that you never see anywhere.