The Yuan Palace in Dadu is also known as Danei, built on the east side of the North Sea. The “Daming Hall” (equivalent to Fengtian Hall and Taihe Hall in the Ming and Qing Dynasties) in the Royal Palace is the tallest and grandest building in the Dadu city. The streets of Dadu are criss-crossed and arranged in a neat chequerboard layout.

Both south and north Luogu Alleys and streets on both sides in Dongcheng are still in the pattern of the Yuan Dynasty, and the tradition of calling streets “Hutong” in Beijingalso began in the Yuan Dynasty. It was planned at that time to plant locust trees in the streets and Hutongs as sidewalk trees, so there were two locust trees in front of the gate of each courtyard. When Italian traveler Marco Polo came to Yuan Dadu, he said that it was the most beautiful city in the world. Now we can still find the ancient streets and Hutongs built during the Yuan Dynasty. The most common buildings in Hutongs around Shichahai are Siheyuan (courtyard surrounded by buildings on all four sides) and Sanheyuan (courtyard surrounded by buildings on three sides).

“Beijing Hutong Tour” is one of the feature tourism activities in Shichahai area. Here, Chinese and foreign tourists follow their guide on foot or take a special-designed tricycle, walking through the ancient hutongs on the shore of Shichahai, and perceiving the cosy courtyard house and luxurious royal palace.

Experience Hutong tour and recognize the logos

The tricycles that officially operate in the scenic area are all rickshaws, and maximum of passenger on the back seat is two; all staff are uniformly dressed in white Tang shirts and black Tang pants, as well as a badge with the company name, license plate number, their ID photo and a franchise stamp; they can provide passengers with invoices if they need.

Specific routes of Hutong tour:

Pick-up Point: East of the South Road of Guo Moruo’s Former Residence on Qianhai West Street, west of the North Road of Former Residence, south of Houhai North (the alley on the west side of the former Dahuawei Hotel), Daxiangfeng Hutong, south exit of Qianhai South and east exit of Dingfu Street North.

Main route: Qianhai West Street → Qianhai North Bank → Houhai South Bank → Xiaoxiangfeng North Exit to the south → Shichahai Fire Brigade Gate → turn right into Daxiangfeng Hutong to the west → Liuyin Street (passing through the branch route from the Beijing Thirteenth Middle School East Gate) → Qianhai West Street, forming the first circular route;

Qianhai West Street → Qianhai North Bank → Yinding Bridge ←→ Houhai North Bank ←→ Yeya Island, back to the first route via Yinding Bridge → Houhai South Bank → Xiaoxiangfeng North Exit to the south → Shichahai Fire Brigade Gate → turn right into the Daxiangfeng Hutong to the west → Liuyin Street (take the branch route from the Beijing Thirteenth Middle School East Gate) → Qianhai West Street, forming the second circular route.

Branch routes: (1) Qianhai West Street → south exit of Nanguanfang → (turn right into) Nanguanfang East Road → enter the main road of the first circular route; (2) Qianhai West Street → Nanguanfang south exit → (turn left into) Zhanzi Hutong → Daxiangfeng → enter Liuyin Street to the first circular route; (3) south exit of Qianhai south bank ←→ Jinding Bridge ←→ Qianhai east bank ←→Enter the first or second circular route via Yinding Bridge (two-way); (4) Houhai North Bank, south exit of Hutong on the west side of the former Dahuawei Hotel → Ya’er Hutong westward → enter the second circular route along Houhai North Bank.

Transport: Bus lines near Qianhai Lotus Market: Line 13/42/612/701/Sightseeing Line 3/111/107/118/3, get off at Beihai North Gate Station; bus lines near Yandaixie Street: Line 124/5/60/635/82/Sightseeing Line 3, get off at Gulou Station; Metro Line 8, Shichahai Station; Metro Line 6, Beihai North Station;

Self-driving parking location:

Address: No. 23, Yangfang Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing

Tel: 83223722