An Evening Among Beijing's Hutongs

During our stay in Beijing, we spent most of the daytime around our hotel in Sanlitun while my wife was working. In the evenings, once she was free, we had the chance to venture farther out together.

On 27 September, we visited one of Beijing’s hutong neighbourhoods.

Walking Through the Old Lanes

The hutongs were quite different from the modern streets and buildings around Sanlitun.

A paved lane between grey brick walls with strings of red lanterns overhead and people walking away from the camera, past beds of chrysanthemums. — Into the lanes.

We walked through the narrow lanes, passing shops, traditional-looking buildings and people going about their evening. There were lanterns hanging outside some of the shops, and plenty of things to look at along the way.

A broad lane between long grey brick walls with tiled tops, red lanterns strung across the far end, potted shrubs and people walking in both directions, with a large red lantern hanging in the foreground. — Red lanterns along the lane.

We didn’t have a particular destination or a list of places we wanted to visit. We simply walked around, stopping occasionally to look into the shops and do a little window shopping.

A lit shop window full of small figurines beside a grey brick wall, with people walking along a willow-lined lane hung with red lanterns. — Shop windows along the lane.

A busy lane lined with willow trees and small shops with lit signs and red flags, crowded with people in the early evening. — Shop windows along the lane.

I don’t remember the exact name of the hutong area we visited, but I remember enjoying the atmosphere.

It was nice to see this different side of Beijing, away from the modern surroundings of our hotel.

A Little Shopping and Something to Eat

As we wandered through the shops, there were plenty of small things that caught our attention.

Looking through our photographs now, I can see a freezer displaying rose-shaped ice creams. It’s one of those small details I probably wouldn’t have remembered without the photograph.

A glass-fronted freezer full of ice creams shaped like roses in red, pink, purple, yellow and white, with ice lollies in the next cabinet and a child’s head in the foreground, seen from behind. — Rose-shaped ice creams.

Later that evening, we had hotpot for dinner.

A hotpot table with a divided pot of red chilli broth and pale broth, plates of thinly sliced meat, small bowls of herbs, and a decorative doll set in a mound of ice, with someone in a red top eating across the table. — Hotpot for dinner.

I don’t remember the restaurant’s name or exactly what we ordered, but the photograph brings back another memory of the food we enjoyed during our time in Beijing.

A Simple Evening Out

There was nothing particularly elaborate about our visit to the hutongs. We weren’t following a guided tour or trying to cover every attraction.

We were simply spending an evening together as a family, walking through the lanes, looking at the shops and enjoying dinner afterwards.

Sometimes that’s enough to make an evening memorable.

The following morning would be very different. We had a full day of sightseeing planned, beginning with Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City before heading farther out to the Great Wall.

For now, though, we were content just exploring Beijing at our own pace.