By King’s Joy Hostel guest: Brendan
I know there is the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, but there is one place I found right below the hostel’s windows that was by far my favorite area to explore: the hutongs. Hutongs are small, traditional alleyways, going back as many as 500 years ago (so when you are on those streets it’s amazing to think of all the generations of feet that passed those same lanes). Also, you notice that for the most part the hutongs run east-west rather than north-south. A large reasoning to this was to prevent the cold Siberian winds from blowing through from the north in the winter. The hutongs are also nice because you escape high buildings for a while and feel grounded. The hutongs around King’s Joy are quite different to other hutong areas I visited in Beijing because they felt more ‘working class.’ They were busier and contained more shops and restaurants, but at the same time were not overly commercial.
Rather than tire myself out walking for miles through the alleyways, I just rented a bike from King’s Joy Hostel (30 RMB) and set out. I got lost for sure, but it was easy and quick to find how to get out again thanks to being on wheels. One place I recommend visiting is Liu Li Chang. It’s north east of the hostel inside the hutongs, about a kilometer or so away. There you can see all sorts of trinkets, antiques and art work (and even artists in the process of making their art). Just on this small section of the hutongs, I spent more than an hour checking everything out.
I know there is the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, but there is one place I found right below the hostel’s windows that was by far my favorite area to explore: the hutongs. Hutongs are small, traditional alleyways, going back as many as 500 years ago (so when you are on those streets it’s amazing to think of all the generations of feet that passed those same lanes). Also, you notice that for the most part the hutongs run east-west rather than north-south. A large reasoning to this was to prevent the cold Siberian winds from blowing through from the north in the winter. The hutongs are also nice because you escape high buildings for a while and feel grounded. The hutongs around King’s Joy are quite different to other hutong areas I visited in Beijing because they felt more ‘working class.’ They were busier and contained more shops and restaurants, but at the same time were not overly commercial.
Rather than tire myself out walking for miles through the alleyways, I just rented a bike from King’s Joy Hostel (30 RMB) and set out. I got lost for sure, but it was easy and quick to find how to get out again thanks to being on wheels. One place I recommend visiting is Liu Li Chang. It’s north east of the hostel inside the hutongs, about a kilometer or so away. There you can see all sorts of trinkets, antiques and art work (and even artists in the process of making their art). Just on this small section of the hutongs, I spent more than an hour checking everything out.
