AreaNanluoguxiang, the Lama Temple & the Eastern Hutongs
NANLUOGUXIANG AND ITS SIDE LANES · NANLUOGUXIANG
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VERIFIED2026.09.11Nanluoguxiang, the Lama Temple & the Eastern Hutongs · 39.936°N 116.397°E
No ticketing
A 786 m north-south lane laid out with the Yuan capital in the 1270s and, with the eight hutongs branching off each side, the best-preserved piece of that chessboard grid left in Beijing — the whole block reads as a centipede from the air. The main lane is now a snack-and-souvenir strip with weekend crowds to match; the side lanes are the point: Mao Dun's courtyard in Houyuan'ensi, the Ju'er Hutong 'new courtyards' that won a UN habitat award in 1992, Wanrong's family home in Mao'er, Qi Baishi's in Yu'er. All of it is lived in.
EntranceLine 6 / Line 8 Nanluoguxiang station opens onto the south end; the Drum Tower is 600 m west of the north end
Last verified 2026-09-11
Beat the crowds
Saturday and Sunday afternoons the main lane is a one-way shuffle; weekday mornings it is empty and the shops are half shut. The side lanes are quiet at any hour — two turns off the main lane and you are alone with residents.
Language
Bilingual street plaques at the mouth of each side lane; shop signs partly English. The residential lanes have no interpretation at all.