Beijing by Foot Walk #32: Qianmen East

In Old Beijing, this was the hub of commerce, entertainment and vice. Qianmen is named for the gate separating the inner “Manchu” city and outer “Han” city – Han residents were kicked out of the former by the Qing in 1648.

Some of China’s oldest extant businesses are here, including Tongrentang (5), a traditional pharmacy opened in 1669, and Qianxiangyi Silk Store (1), from 1840. The neighborhood’s commercial bent is also mirrored in street names like Zhubaoshi Jie (“Jewelry Market Street”) and Liangshidian Jie (“Grain Shop Street”).

Named for the shops (langfang) that lined it, Langfang Toutiao has an elegant gate (2) with the characters ?? (jin dian, “gold shop”) atop it. Xinxin Hotel (3) used to be Quanyechang, Beijing’s fi rst mall (1914). Its charms included an elevator and a movie theater.

Under the Qing, Qianshi Hutong (4) was home to 19 silver smelters, who produced boat-shaped sycee ingots, and currency traders, who shouted quotations on silver and gold prices. Note the characters ???? (Wanfeng Yinhao, or Wanfeng Bank) above a courtyard gate, and the rooms in courtyard #7-9 where traders worked. The hutong’s narrow entrance (70cm) was designed to prevent thieves from easily escaping.

Before ’49, the Bada Hutong (Eight Big Alleys) were Beijing’s red-light district. The area’s vocation was linked to the sybaritic lifestyles of Anhui Opera troupes that settled in Hanjia Hutong and Baishun Hutong (6). The concentration of prostitution here increased after Emperor Qianlong closed bordellos in the Manchu city in 1756 and after Qianmen Railway Station opened in 1900. Carvings on buildings hint at this past, notably the ????(“superior bathhouse”) and ????? (“most fragrant bathhouse”) inscriptions at the Yuanxing Jiadao archway (8).

Adjacent to Jinyang Fandian, Beijing’s first Shanxi restaurant, is the former residence of Ji Xiaolan (7), whom Qianlong appointed to compile the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature. Involving 3,458 titles and 79,224 volumes, this project took 360 scholars 23 years to complete. Honor this achievement by visiting Ji’s house.

Excerpted from Beijing by Foot, published by Immersion Guides. To order a copy, call 5820 7101 or e-mail distribution@immersionguides.com. See www.immersionguides.com for more info.