Older residents practising slow movement exercises under trees
Eight in the morning
The parks are the busiest they will be all day, and nobody minds you joining.
A Private Day in Beijing's Hutong
Beijing's lanes are not a preserved district. People live in them, badly parked and full of opinions, and the only way in is with someone the neighbours already know.
- Duration
- One day, roughly 08:00 to 20:00
- Party
- Private, or a small group by arrangement
- From
- Enquire for pricing
- Best months
- April to June, September to early November
The studio
Enamel, brush or kite frame — one maker, one afternoon, your own hands.
Dishes set out on a round table in a small home dining room
Lunch, indoors
A courtyard home, a round table, and however long the meal takes.
The lanes were laid out to be lived in rather than looked at, which is why a walk through them without an introduction gets you very little — a grey wall, a closed door, someone’s parked scooter.
With an introduction it becomes a different city. The maker’s studio is a room off a courtyard. The lunch is in a kitchen designed for four people, seating eight. And the walk between them stops constantly, because your host keeps running into people.
That is the day. It is not efficient, and that is the point.
Weathered timber door with worn brass fittings
Grey roof tiles stacked in overlapping rows
A cyclist passing the end of a narrow lane
The day
- Join the morning park regulars before the city fills up
- Work a full session with a maker — enamel, brush or kite frame
- Eat lunch cooked in a courtyard home, not a restaurant
- Walk the lanes with someone who knows which doors open
- Finish over dinner in a courtyard, unhurried
Included
- Private host and interpreter for the full day
- Studio session with all materials, and your work to take home
- Lunch with a host family, and dinner
- Private vehicle and driver
- Not included: Accommodation
- Not included: Flights and intercity transport
- Not included: Personal spending
Questions
Are the hutong not just a tourist attraction now?
Parts of them are. The stretches we walk are residential, which is why the day is built around people who live there rather than a route between photo stops.
Which studio will I work in?
It depends on who is teaching that week — enamel, brush work and kite frames rotate. Tell us if one appeals and we will build the day around it.
Is the family lunch genuinely someone's home?
Yes. These are households we have worked with for years. It is a small kitchen and a round table, and the food is whatever they cook well.
How much walking is there?
Perhaps four kilometres across the day, all flat, broken up by long stops. A vehicle covers the distances between neighbourhoods.
Will there be other guests?
Only if you want them. The day is normally private to your party; we also run it as a small group when travellers ask to share, and we will tell you which applies to your dates.