Qianmen Street, Dashilar & Yangmeizhu Xiejie

The commercial quarter outside the front gate, in three grades of 'old': Qianmen Street, the 840 m pedestrian avenue rebuilt from scratch in 2008 with a replica tram, chain stores and tourist pricing; Dashilar, the lane one block west where the genuinely old brands still trade — Tongrentang pharmacy (self-dated 1669), Ruifuxiang silks, Neiliansheng cloth shoes, Zhangyiyuan tea — and the Daguanlou cinema where China's first film was shown in 1905; and Yangmeizhu Xiejie, the diagonal lane beyond it that the 2010s regeneration filled with small bookshops, studios and cafés without clearing the residents. Beijing Fun (北京坊) and its 1905 Quanyechang department store sit at the west end. No tickets anywhere; the value is in knowing which street is which.