Beijing Eight Imperial Handicrafts Museum 

The Jingxi Moshikou Historical and Cultural Block was once a prosperous area for business travel in the past. On the Moshikou historical and cultural block, there is a "thousand-year-old temple" - Cheng'en Temple, which is now the location of the Beijing Eight Imperial Handicrafts Museum. 

In the early years of the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court set up an office for internal affairs and selected the best craftsmen from all over the country to enter the palace to serve the royal family. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the craftsmen of the office were scattered among the people. Eight stunts represent the highest level of handicraft at that time and were known as the "Beijing Eight Excellent Handicrafts".

In 2006, Cheng'en Temple was announced as one of the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Today, the former "mysterious ancient temple" is opened to visitors. Walking into Cheng'en Temple, you can enjoy the neatly displayed "Beijing Eight Excellent Handicrafts”. 

The works of art in the museum condense the painstaking efforts and skills of hundreds of craftsmen from major countries. When the exquisite traditional craftsmanship jumps out in front of them, tourists who come to visit are amazed.

Reservation method: WeChat public account of “Beijing Eight Imperial Handicrafts Museum”

Address: No. 20, Moshikou Street, Shijingshan District, Beijing

Shijia Hutong Museum 

Hutongs are the "capillaries" of Beijing that hide the daily life elements of the ancient capital of Beijing. You may wish to visit this hutong-related museum to feel Beijing style.

Shijia Hutong Museum is located at No. 24, Shijia Hutong, Dongcheng District. The museum is a two-entry courtyard, covering an area of more than 1,000 square meters. The museum has eight exhibition halls and a multi-functional hall, showing the history, culture and changes of Shijia Hutong in different forms. 

The various exhibits in the museum recreate the life of the hutong. There are copies of employment documents from the twenties and thirties of the last century, baskets used by families in the old days, bus tickets that faded out of the lives of citizens for a short time, and two houses specially arranged according to Beijing families in the fifties and sixties, and seventies and eighties.

In the room of the fifties and sixties of the last century, there are one bed and one table, two chairs and two boxes, simple wooden furniture, and a semiconductor radio. In the room of the seventies and eighties, the home decoration was more fashionable, and there is modular furniture in the interior. Most of these items were collected from nearby residents, and they are witnesses to history, recording the changes of Shijia Hutong. 

Walking into the Times Memory Exhibition Hall, a small studio like a recording studio records the original appearance of the hutong with sound. The room is equipped with professional audio equipment. As long as you click the touch screen, you can hear different "hutong sounds". These sounds are divided into three time periods: before the fifties of the last century, the fifties and sixties, and the seventies and eighties. And there are more than 70 kinds of sounds in spring, summer, autumn and winter, showing the sounds of hutongs, including the sound of shouting, the horn of bicycles and other sound memories about hutongs.

Reservation method: WeChat public account of “Shijia Hutong Museum”

Address: No. 24, Shijia Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing 

Translator: BAO Minmin

Reviewer: WANG Yiwen