Destinations to visit in Beijing are not restricted to the likes of the Great Wall or the Palace Museum anymore. The appearance of trendy cultural and commercial streets with distinctive Beijing characteristics, which are designed and built in the oldest Hutong regions, have enabled tourists to explore the charm of Beijing in a new way. Though unfamiliar to older generations, places such as Nanluogu Alley (南锣鼓巷)，Yandai Inclining Street (烟袋斜街) and Pub Street in Houhai (后海酒吧街) are now accepted as the most popular landmarks in Beijing by and by. Without doubt, among these landmarks, Yandai Inclining Street, because of its exquisite layout and diversity of commodities, has stood out to be the best place to wander about both for young couples and foreign tourists.

Yandai Inclining Street is a lathy, 232-meter-long Hutong located in Shicha Sea (什刹海)，a well-known scenic area in Beijing. The word “Yan Dai” refers to a “smoking tool” of old times. This tool has a long, hollow and columniform body with a tiny pot at one end that contains tobacco powder, and another end that smokers could smoke from. The unimpressive Hutong gained its prosperity and name during the Qing Dynasty, when two Yandai stores were the symbol of the street. For a time, the tobacco business declined while antique stores started to spring up. In the 21st century, Yandai Inclining Street has been titled “Chinese Historical and Cultural Street” by the central government. As a result, commodities including paintings, artifacts and snacks have gradually enriched the cultural variety, giving rise to a leap in the number of visitors. Now, even an ordinary corn juice stall attracts a winding queue. Yandai Inclining Street’s successful transformation is not a matter of coincidence. One factor accounting for its success is the proper commercialization of cultural heritage. In other words, handicrafts or traditional snacks here could be items on display or commercial products to be sold just the same. In this way, tourists could either experience the pleasure of shopping or just catch a glimpse of the essence of Beijing’s culture and history. The street also holds many modern DIY crafts.It’s quite common to see elaborate hand-painted oiled paper umbrellas or creative T-shirts with funny slogans. Young people often indulge in searching for the most fashionable decorations. These shops present one vigorous aspect of Beijing’s culture. However, Yandai Inclining Street is not the only “historical and cultural street” in China. Some similarities, namely the combination of commerce and culture, can also be discovered at Tianzifang (田子坊) in Shanghai. The similarities are summarized as follows: distinctive stores in the so-called “old buildings”, newly renovated in a retro style. To some degree, they are the artificial “historical and cultural streets” as a part of government-invested project that did not come into existence naturally. It seems that they try to gather all the local cultural elements in less than 250 meters, which is apparently impossible. The similarities between Tianzifang and Yandai reveals a fact that the ways to protect and preserve old streets in big cities seem to be of the same model: transform them into cultural and commercial streets. It is a win-win project which helps to bring benefits to local residents and becomes good advertisements for local tourism. However, the transformation usually tend to distort the original appearance of the old streets and make it look very artificial as well as full of commercial elements. This is exactly the case of Yandai Inclining Street. The artistic atmosphere there gives tourists a misconception that food, history and cultures in Shanghai or Beijing are exactly what it’s like in Tianzifang or Yandai Inclining Street. For example, tourists may consider a ten-yuan stick of sugar-coated haws (糖葫芦) sold in a store along Yandai to be tastier and more authentic than the one sold in an unknown alley. But they have no idea that the sticks of sugar-coated haws along Yandai are produced in large quantities at a time, and due to the mechanized production, they lose the taste of those which are made by traditional handicraftsmen.

On the one hand, these landmarks could be symbols of a city; but on the other hand, they restrict tourists’ understanding of a city in a framework. The fact how to view someones private instagram photos is that with these established landmarks, fewer tourists would choose to explore one city by themselves. Usually, if tourists google “the places you must visit in Beijing”, the landmarks which are labeled as “under state-level protection” are more likely on the list than others. And visiting these places is a guarantee of smaller budgets and more convenience with easier access to transportation and other facilities. Also, tourists who have been to the landmarks will recommend people who haven’t been. The “reputation effect” spreads and strengthens, tourists will no longer bother to take risks discovering what is unfamiliar.As a result, limited exploration and scope lead to limited understanding of Beijing which is based on their impression of one or two “historical and cultural streets,” which is quite biased.

In some non-commercial Hutongs where only local residents live, such as the old residential area in Shicha Sea district, we can find the most original lifestyle. The old sit silently in the bamboo chairs, some naughty boys suddenly burst out laughing at the end of the Hutong and some sort of tempting smell leaks from a kitchen of a certain old house. Here you can get a comprehensive view on what an authentic old street is like. Besides buildings and commodities, the culture of old streets are embodied in people’s daily life to a larger degree. Honestly, the old streets don’t need to look nice by appearance for the joy of visiting them involves active exploring and sometimes surprising discoveries beyond the routine of shopping .

Admittedly Yandai is a successful commercial and culture old street and it’s fine to buy some Beijing handicrafts there. But to know more about Hutong Culture, Yandai is definitely not the right place since it has been transformed too much. Visiting some original old streets just like the old residential areas in Shicha Sea district could help to understand what makes Hutong Culture so special.

“Addresses for destinations mentioned above”

Nanluogu Alley 南锣鼓巷 Address: Located in Dongcheng District in Beijing, stretching from Gulou East Main Street in the north to Pingan Main street in the south 地址：位于北京东城区，北起鼓楼东大街，南至平安大街

Yandai Inclining Street 烟袋斜街 Address: Located on Dianmen Wai Main Street in Xicheng District in Beijing, fifty meters from Gulou 地址：北京市西城区地安门外大街，距离鼓楼50米

Pub Street in Houhai 后海酒吧街 Address: Located in Houhai District in Beijing ,near to Yandai Inclining Street 地址：位于北京后海，靠近烟袋斜街

Tianzifang 田子坊 Address: Located in Lane 210 Taikang Road in Shanghai 地址：上海泰康路210弄

This article was written by Nancy Gong. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Nancy Gong