Our Beijing hutong tour is a private half day in the old lanes north of the Forbidden City: a stroll along the Shichahai and Houhai lakes, the crooked lane of Yandai Xiejie, the square below the Drum and Bell Towers, and a rickshaw ride through the hutongs. It suits first-time visitors, families and anyone who walks at an easy pace.
Price on request — send us your dates and group size for a written quote.
- Duration: a half day, morning or afternoon, hotel to hotel
- Group: private, just your group with your own guide and driver
- Pick-up: your hotel in central Beijing (within the 4th Ring Road)
- Walking level: easy; flat lanes and lakeside paths, with the rickshaw doing part of the work
- Best for: first visits, grandparents, children, photographers, a gentle day after the Great Wall
Itinerary
Start: Shichahai and the Houhai lakeshore
Your guide and driver meet you in the hotel lobby, and the drive into the Shichahai area is short from most central hotels. Shichahai is the name for a chain of lakes, and Houhai is the largest stretch. You walk the shore under the willows while your guide explains how a hutong works: a lane of grey brick walls, each door opening onto a siheyuan, the traditional courtyard house. The main streets here are free to walk.
Mid-tour: Yandai Xiejie to the Drum and Bell Towers
Yandai Xiejie, “Tobacco Pouch Slanting Street”, runs on a diagonal between the lakes and the towers, about ten minutes on foot. It is lined with small shops and snack counters. Many visitors pick up a tanghulu, hawthorn berries in a glassy sugar shell that crunches best on a cold day, or a jasmine-tea soft-serve from the old tea merchant Wuyutai.
At the top of the lane the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower face each other across a paved square at the north end of Beijing’s central axis. For centuries these two towers told the city the time. The watch was beaten “fast eighteen, slow eighteen”, 108 strikes in all. The square is free, and you may hear the regular drum performances from below. If you’d like to climb, a combined ticket for both towers costs CNY 30 (about US$4.50) as of November 2026, bought on-site by scanning a code. The Drum Tower is 46.7 m tall and its 69 stone steps are steep; inside, the one surviving original drum still shows bayonet slashes left by Japanese troops. The Bell Tower, rebuilt in brick and stone in the 1740s to resist fire, has 75 steps. Climbing is your choice, and your guide waits below with anyone who’d rather stay on the square.
The rickshaw ride
From the towers you climb into a pedal rickshaw for a ride through the quieter residential lanes. This is where the hutongs feel most lived-in: bicycles leaning against doorways, a neighbor sweeping a step, the smell of someone’s lunch drifting over a wall. The rickshaw covers more lanes than you could comfortably walk in a half day, and it gives tired knees a break. Your guide stays with your group and tells the stories of the lanes as you go.
Optional: Nanluoguxiang or Wudaoying
If you have energy left, your driver can take you to one more lane before heading back. Nanluoguxiang is 787 m long and keeps the street grid laid out in the Yuan dynasty more than 740 years ago. Wudaoying Hutong, 632 m from Yonghegong Street to Andingmen Inner Street, takes its name from a Ming-era garrison and is now a lane of cafes and small design shops. It sits right by the Lama Temple, so it pairs well with a temple visit on a longer day. After that, your driver takes you back to your hotel.
What’s included
- English-speaking guide
- Rickshaw ride through the hutongs
- Private car or van for hotel transfers in central Beijing
Not included
- Drum Tower and Bell Tower tickets
- Food and drinks
- Personal expenses and tips
Pace, drop-offs and Monday opening
With your own guide you can linger at a doorway, ask what a carving means, or sit by the lake while the children watch the boats. There are no shopping stops. Your driver drops you by the lakes and meets you wherever the walk ends.
This tour also works well on a Monday, when the Forbidden City and several museums close but the lanes, lakes and Drum and Bell Towers stay open. In spring the willows along Houhai come into leaf. In winter, the dry cold keeps the sugar shell on a tanghulu crisp.
Tell us your dates, group size and what you would like to see. We reply with a day-by-day plan and a written quote.
Booking a morning or an afternoon
- Message us with your dates, the number of travelers and their ages, and whether you prefer a morning or an afternoon.
- We send a written plan and a quote, including any add-ons you asked about.
- You confirm in writing; payment details are in your booking agreement.
The full process is on our how to book page.
Tell us your dates, group size and what you would like to see. We reply with a day-by-day plan and a written quote.
More on the hutongs, and an evening food walk
Read more about the lanes in our guide to Beijing’s hutongs, plan the rest of your stay with our list of things to do in Beijing, pair this half day with our evening food tour, or browse all private Beijing tours.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the hutong tour?
It is a half day, hotel to hotel, in the morning or the afternoon. If you want more time, you can add Nanluoguxiang or Wudaoying Hutong at the end, or pair the tour with a temple visit or our evening food tour on the same day.
Are the Drum and Bell Tower tickets included?
No. The square between the towers is free, and climbing is optional. As of November 2026 a combined ticket for both towers costs CNY 30 (about US$4.50), bought on-site by scanning a code. The Drum Tower has 69 steep steps and the Bell Tower 75.
Is the hutong tour suitable for seniors and young children?
The lanes and lakeside paths are flat, and the rickshaw ride covers part of the route, so nobody has to walk the whole way. The tower climbs are steep, and anyone who would rather stay down can wait on the square with the guide.
Can we do the hutong tour on a Monday?
Monday is a good day for it. The hutong lanes, the Shichahai lakes and the Drum and Bell Towers stay open on Mondays, when the Forbidden City and several museums close.
Do we need to pay to walk in the hutongs?
No. The main streets of Shichahai and Nanluoguxiang are free to walk. Individual courtyards, museums and boats charge separately, so you only pay for what you choose to go into.
Can we eat along the way?
Many people do. Yandai Xiejie is lined with snack counters, and popular picks are a tanghulu or a jasmine-tea soft-serve from Wuyutai. Food and drinks are not included in the tour, so you pay for what you pick as you go.
Facts checked: 5 November 2026. Ticket prices, opening hours and entry rules can change; we re-check before every booking.