Bored of Sanlitun and Gulou? Feel like you ‘know’ Beijing? We have a suggestion for you. Go west! Thanks to the Beijing Design Week development projects, new life has been breathed into the scramble of lanes that surround Baitasi, west of the Forbidden City, putting it right back on our radar.
A wander around the area feels totally different from the better-known hutongs in the eastern districts of Beijing. First of all, you’ve got that huge, gleaming ‘stupa’ of Baitasi visible from much of it.
Baitasi (or Baita Temple, White Stupa Temple, or its fancier name Miaoying Temple) is very much an architectural rarity in that it has a stupa – that thick, round tower. Also known as a ‘dagoba’ – not to be confused with a pagoda, silly – stupas are Buddhist monuments that usually contain relics.
Since Beijing only has two of these (the other is in Beihai Park), it’s quite a treat. This one is almost a thousand years old and is about to emerge from its latest renovation. There was a temple with a dagoba on this site in the Yuan dynasty (the Mongol one), but the buildings around it now were built in the next dynasty – the Ming. The original dagoba architect, Aniko, was in fact Nepali and was instructed by Kublai Khan to build the dagoba. Check out his statue.
Scheduled to reopen fully ‘later in 2015’ (though locals roll their eyes at this and are expecting something closer to mid-2016 and are itching to get back in to pray themselves), it was protected from the rampages of the Cultural Revolution only to be damaged in the Tangshan earthquake in 1976.
Today it is stunning. The stupa glows white with a crown of bells to ward off any evil spirits. This seems to be working as the surrounding area is ultra calm and laid-back.
The hutong alleys are narrower than in other parts of Beijing, with some too tight even for a bicycle, and many of the houses are painted a pale grey. The residents don’t just stop there with their paintbrushes – we found murals of paths leading into imaginary landscapes, barbers at work and children painted above a bicycle leaning against a wall.
Trees are fewer on the ground than in the east, but these are made up for with vines, creepers and dozens of planters and flowerbeds that have become part of the area’s recent renovation.
Just to the east of Baitasi’s front gate is the famous and vast Baitasi Pharmacy. Have a wander around to see dried insects that will make you live forever alongside displays of the latest orthopaedic equipment.
There’s still plenty of old fashioned hustle and bustle despite the glimpses of gentrification: trendy shared work spaces, a design agency and a couple of courtyard hotels. And while the Beijing Design week exhibitions and art installations will soon be long gone, we can’t encourage you enough to head in this direction next time you want a change of Beijing scenery. Baitasi and its environs will give you a whole new perspective.
If you would like a tour of Beijing’s historic hutong lanes, have a look at our options or get in touch if there’s something specific you would like to see.