The best way to see Beijing is on the back of a bicycle. My thigh and calf muscles are still bulging from my last visit. Thanks to the upcoming Olympics, the city has come out with a brilliant, bi-lingual map (aptly named: Beijing Tourist Map - selling for between 5 to 8 RMB depending on if you buy it at the train station, your hotel, or on the street by the Forbidden City).
The decadent aspect of biking is it affords you the luxury of sightseeing aimlessly without a fixed destination. If you tried to traverse the same distance on foot, you would run out of steam very quickly. One of the highlights of Beijing is exploring the old hutongs by day or night. Hutongs are old, single-story dwellings, characterized by narrow, cobbled alleyways and slate roofs. Many of the hutongs in Beijing are in the style of architecture of the Ming and Quing Dynasties. Every year, hundreds of hutongs are torn down by urban planners to make way for high-rise buildings. But the hutongs, while they last, are what gives Beijing some style and tempting escape alleyways to evade mobs of tour groups.
Most of the hutongs are still functional living areas, however, on my last trip, I found this little jewel of a hutong called Nan Luo Gu Xiang in the old heart of Beijing, lined with tiny, antique, hole-in-the-wall cafes, charming restaurants, music shops, bookstores, massage boutiques, vintage clothing shops, smoothie joints, street food and arty bars. It's bohemia stuck in a sandwich between the Forbidden City and the crowds at Beihai Park. The street has an organically-grown feel as if it slowly evolved over the years - this is a place unique from anywhere else I have discovered on my snoopy rides through Beijing. I sat at Cheng Ji Drink Shop on Nan Luo Gu Xiang and sucked down a banana smoothie for 8 RMB before trying a watermelon shake for 5 RMB. The people who frequent the street are a mix of locals, foreign students and arty expats.
Surprisingly, the area is not expensive and on a Sunday afternoon, the day after National Day, it was quiet and laid back. It helps that the street is not marked on the tourist map. I left the area to catch the night train back to Beijing, wishing that Shanghai had something similar. Shanghai’s answer to this would have to be Taikang Lu. But even Taikang Lu has a long way to go before it will have the same home-grown feel as this.
Stop in here for breakfast, brunch of a quiet evening relaxing with you laptop and a glass of wine in a café or for coffee, a smoothie and bit of shopping. Food wise, you can find everything here from pizza, crepes, burgers, kebabs, desserts, street food, Italian, French, Chinese and German. If you are going to Beijing, don't miss this dear, little oasis in the capital.
Directions: You won't find Nan Luo Gu Xiang listed on most maps, online or guidebooks: Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. It's within the Second Ring Road district, directly north of the Forbidden City and east of Beihai Park, not far from Houhai bar street and runs parallel to Jiao Dao Kou Nan Da Jie. Its listed cross street is Gu Lou Dong Da Jie.