In this guide, we will visit the literary and artistic photo spots hidden in the hutongs, find the right position, and take a photo that carries the history and cultural changes of the hutongs!
Yangmeizhu Xiejie: ancient style and ins style
Yangmeizhu Xiejie Street, located in the west exit of Qianmen Dashilan Street about half a kilometer to the west, east from the coal market, west to Yanshou Street, because before the Qing Dynasty lived here a good matchmaker Yang matchmaker, and then in the Guangxu period homophonic Yahua to the current name.
However, this northeast and southwest diagonal street has a strong cultural temperament since ancient times, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was a high-end entertainment place "Qingyun Pavilion", Liang Shizheng, a scholar of Dongge University in the Qianlong period, lived here, and there were many powerful bookstores during the Republic of China, and the modern writer Shen Congwen lived here for a short time. Today's Yangmeizhu Xiejie is quiet in the middle of the Qianmen commercial street, as if it has been reborn after absorbing modern elements and precipitating history.
- Recommended photo spot 1: Tea chat
The structure of the Hutong Miscellaneous Courtyard Bungalow has been slightly rebuilt to form a secondary desktop building, but the brick walls and red wooden frames do not lose the Beijing flavor, which is both special and integrated in this diagonal street
The best position is to shoot from the front, and if you happen to have a bicycle, the rush of the cart passing in front of the door may be a good freeze frame, and with a light filter, it definitely has a little fresh feeling.
Practical information
Address: No. 103, Yangmeizhu Xiejie
Per capita: 50 yuan/person
- Recommended photo spot 2: Model Bookstore
Model Bookstore is a small bookstore with a traditional old building. As the sun sets, the sun shines on the exterior walls of the building, giving the bookstore a golden glow.
The interior is mostly retro designed, but the small details are also quite nostalgic. Any place to pose for a photo can have a sense of time staggered.
Practical information
Address: No. 31, Yangmeizhu Xiejie
Business hours: 10:00-19:30
- Recommended photo spot 3: Ji'an Zhai Coffee Book Bar
The charm of Yangmeizhu Xiejie lies in the fact that there are many small shops with different styles, some of which may have been just ordinary bungalows in their predecessors, and some were once century-old shops. For example, Ji'anzhai Coffee and Book Bar is an old store with a history of more than 400 years, which used to be the famous Ji'anzhai Pharmacy, later became a bookstore, and now it is a coffee and book bar.
The terrace on the second floor is a standard check-in place, especially in spring, when the roofs of every house are covered with greenery, take a picture of the back looking into the distance, and look full of vitality against the backdrop of gray tiles and green leaves.
Practical information
Address: No. 66-70, Yangmeizhu Xiejie
Per capita: 50 yuan/person
Business hours: 10:00-18:00
Shijia Hutong: Literature and Culture and Creativity
From the south street in the east, to the east of the South Street, west to the East Fourth South Street, north of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Street, in the hearts of Beijing, Shijia Hutong is not a market, is rich, is one of the most bullish alleys in Beijing.
In ancient times, there were powerful eunuchs of the government and the opposition, rich businessmen who rivaled the country, after the liberation of Beiping, the North China Art Troupe was stationed here, which was later the "old man's art", and now we live here with the political dignitaries we are familiar with or unfamiliar with, and there is the most difficult primary school in Beijing - Shijia Primary School. This old street is closely related to culture and politics, and although it does not have the flamboyant personality of Yangmeizhu Xiejie, it also has its own quaint beauty.
- Recommended photo spot 1: Shijia Hutong Museum
No. 24 courtyard of Shijia Hutong, is the former residence of Ling Shuhua, one of the "three talented women in the literary world" of the Republic of China, Ling Shuhua's wedding was held here, and its witness was Hu Shi, and later Ling Shuhua's former residence was changed to the Shijia Hutong Museum, and the lintel is the inscription of Mr. Shu Yi, the son of Lao She. The museum is more than 1,000 square meters, and all kinds of exhibits reproduce the life of the old Hutong as it is, without tickets or reservations, and visitors feel as if they have traveled back to the era of that time.
There is an independent verandah in the Shijia Hutong Museum, which is the most literary and artistic photo booth in the courtyard, which may not be the complete historical original, but standing here and looking at the mottled forehead, you can still feel the vicissitudes of historical changes.
Practical information
Address: No. 24, Shijia Hutong
Business hours: 9:00-16:00 (closed on Mondays)
- Recommended photo spot 2: Shijia Hutong Cultural and Creative Society
If the Shijia Hutong Museum is an exhibit that cannot be taken away, then the Cultural and Creative Society is full of cultural and creative products that reflect the intertwined modern elements of old Beijing life.
The position next to the old TV set and the old bookshelf is a camera that can take pictures of the sense of age, and the scene restores the daily needs of the old Beijingers. Pick up a book, look back and smile, gentle as the words of Lao She in the alley.
Practical information
Address: No. 22, Shijia Hutong
Business hours: 9:30-12:00, 14:00-18:00
Brick Tower Hutong: Literature and Writings
Brick Tower Hutong is located near the West Fourth Archway, through the West Fourth South Street, named after the brick tower at the east entrance of the Hutong, it has been preserved from the Yuan Dynasty to the present, it is one of the Hutongs with the longest history in Beijing, and it is also one of the Hutongs with less damage and better preservation of style in Beijing at present.
In addition to the landmark building brick tower, famous literati and artists in history, such as Lu Xun and Zhang Hatshui, all happened to live in the brick tower alley, and now it has also become a former residence, making this old alley full of literary antiquity.
- Recommended photo spot 1: Lu Xun's former residence
This is the last home of a generation of literary heroes Lu Xun in Beijing, and the small courtyard has now become an important part of the Lu Xun Museum, and it is the earliest "biographical museum" established in New China. From May 1924 to August 1926, Lu Xun lived here and completed many anthologies and articles that we are familiar with today. The exhibition hall has a collection of more than 30,000 cultural relics, including Lu Xun's manuscripts, biographical materials, books, paintings, rubbings of tablets, letters from friends and other cultural relics.
There is a Lu Xun hand-planted white lilac in the small courtyard, with red walls and green tiles, and on a sunny day, it looks just right saturation.
Practical information
Address: No. 84, Brick Tower Hutong
- Recommended photo location 2: Zhengyang Bookstore
Zhengyang Bookstore, with the fragrance of books under the tower of the old man Wansong, is an old Beijing bookstore full of Beijing flavor. In the courtyard, there are old objects such as gate piers, door panels, tables and chairs from old Beijing, as well as photo exhibitions all over the courtyard.
If you go inside, you will find that this is a reading room, and many people are standing or sitting obsessively looking through books. In the rows of yellowed books, it is easy to find a good camera position and photograph the young people who read the arts.
Practical information
Address: No. 43, Xisi South Street
Business hours: 9:00-21:00
Epilogue
If you like Beijing's hutong culture and the history behind each stone lion, then the many hutongs that look the same but have their own stories will surely provide inspiration for your travel photos.