Houhai & the North

Charming hutongs, bustling nightlife,and famous temples

This area contains many of Beijing's second-tier sights that rank just below the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven on most visitors' itineraries. Buildings that deemed how the country worshipped and thought – the Lama Temple and Confucius Temple – stand a short way from the former homes of people that shaped this giant's imperial, political and literary history. The narrow streets around the lakes contain some of the city's best-preserved hutongs or 'alleyways', a rapidly shrinking part of the city that looks unmistakably Chinese. Where once court officials got up and went to bed to the sound of the Drum Tower and Bell Tower, time is now measured in how long it takes to get served at the growing number of trendy (and tacky) bars, restaurants and cafés that have come to define its modern role as a nightlife district.

The Houhai effect has been repeated to the east in Nanluoguxiang – which has been transformed from an ordinary hutong into a re-modelled and repaved strip of cafés, bars and backpacker hostels. As you head north up through the orbital ring roads that serve as strata, roughly marking periods in the city's history, you come across the ugly 'Communist block'  buildings that have come to define contemporary Chinese architecture. Beyond this mass of faceless white tile lies the city's immediate future: the National Stadium and the National Aquatics Centre – examples of cutting-edge design that can comfortably compete with the most striking structures anywhere in the world.

Getting there

The best way to get to places of interest in this area is to hop on the metro – the north of the city has the best underground links. Beijing's answer to London Underground's Circle line (Line 2) runs alongside the Second Ring Road, making sites like the Drum and Bell towers and the Lama and Confucius temples just short walks south of their designated tube stops (Gulou and Yonghegong, respectively). Houhai itself is a ten-minute walk south of Gulou or north of Tiananmen. Yonghegong is also served by the handy Line 5, which runs north-south and connects with the east-west axis, Line 10. It is from the Panda Roundabout (Asian Games Village) stop on this line that trains run direct to the Olympic stadium.If you have a little time and are in the south of this district, it is best to forgo all motorised transport and hop on a bike.

The Lakes

Collectively referred to by most people as Houhai, but officially known as Shichahai – the man-made lakes of Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai snake out northwards from the expanses of water around which the Imperial playground, Beihai Park, and the latter-day seat of power, Zhongnanhai, are built.

These artificial lakes once served as the terminus of the canal network that used to run through the city, some of which can still be seen running alongside the second ring road. Being so close to the Forbidden City, this area was populated by court officials and the city's elite after the capital was remodelled under the Yuan Dynasty. These former residents include the father of Puyi, the last Qing Emperor, who hung his hat in Prince Gong's Mansion, and the widow of Sun Yat-sen, who spent her twilight years living in a very stately mansion, now converted into a museum called the Former Residence of Song Qingling; there is also a museum to a revolutionary author at Guo Morou's former residence.

Houhai boomed as a nightlife district on the back of the Lotus Lane development – a traditional façade for a row of big money bars and restaurants, the best of which are Lotus Blue and Buffalo Bar . Wander up Yandai Xijie (the street that leads diagonally to the east of Yinding Bridge) for lots of hutong theme bars with rooftop seating, as well as a few good jewellery and nick-nack shops. Cycle rickshaw trips are available around the area – it is important to agree a price before getting on: expect to pay upwards of 60RMB for an hour, and be prepared to haggle. The paved area at the south end of Lotus Lane has outdoor ballroom dancing every evening – great people watching and, if you aren't shy, a giggle to join.

To the north and east of the lakes, in what was once the centre of this affluent district, stand the Drum and Bell towers. Around the square which lies between them are a number of trinket shops aimed at parting tourists from their cash as well as a cosy pub, the Drum and Bell . Delve into the hutongs further north, or further east for Beijing's backpacker strip. To the west is Xinjiekou, one of the city's great shopping streets, full of small, cheap and cheerful shops, and a world away from Wangfujing's big name glitz.

The Lanes

Any trip to Beijing is incomplete without at least one lazy afternoon spent wandering around the old city. The whole point is to get lost in this maze of streets as you rub shoulders with vendors, watch old men exercise their pigeons, and snack on traditional food. If you do lose your bearings, don't worry, just head in one direction for ten minutes and you are guaranteed to come out on a main road. It's a good idea to combine a wander with visits to both Beijing's biggest functioning lamasery, the Lama Temple, and the ancient university which was the Confucius Temple. Other noteworthy local sights include the Mao Dun former residence , now a museum to the life of one of the heavyweights of Chinese contemporary literature.

You can smell the Lama Temple (Yonghegong) long before you get there, the wind carrying the whiff of burning incense on the breeze. Established in the 18th century, it still functions as the state-sanctioned centre of Tibetan Buddhism, but is used as propaganda in China's ongoing feud with the Dalai Lama – something that became all too apparent when China's choice of Panchen Lama was sworn in at this building in 1995, after six-year-old Gedhum Choekyi Nyima, the Dalai Lama's choice for Buddhism's second most holy post, and his family 'vanished'. Politics aside, this is a place of worship, so you may bump into a monk or two as you wander through the five main prayer halls.

The area immediately to the north of Beihai Park and the Forbidden City was where court officials used to live in single-storey courtyard homes (siheyuan), built to a traditional plan that has not changed much since Han Dynasty times. A typical house has stones either side of the entrance, used for mounting horses and often carved to depict the rank of the building's occupant. The main door faces south and is shielded by an internal wall, said to protect against evil spirits, but also fulfilling the more practical function of stopping draughts. The first courtyard has servants' quarters to the left and right, with an entrance to the family compound to the north. Family elders would occupy the north part of this inner sanctum, facing south.

Most of the rich occupants of these traditional houses were ejected when the Communists took power in 1949, replaced with ordinary people, living a family to a room. Only a few of these courtyards have been renovated into single upscale dwellings and many are still home to the city's laobaixing (literally 'old hundred names') or working classes. Often without such amenities as basic plumbing, many of these hutong homes were torn down to make way for faceless developments, although Beijing's recent tourist boom has seen some areas around the centre of the city escape the wrecking ball.

Northern Beijing

It's true what they say: it really is grim up north. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh as there are some great places outside the Second Ring Road, but there's a lot of faceless urban sprawl in between them. Without a doubt, the new Olympic development will do much to rectify this as the stadiums are examples of the most striking modern architecture anywhere in the world, while the Olympic Forest Park has taken the title of Beijing's biggest green space away from Chaoyang Park.

Ditan Park – the Temple of the Earth – is at the northern end of the imperial axis of worship, which features the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) as well as the Temples of Sun (Ritan) and Moon (Yuetan) in the east and west of the city. Though defunct as a holy place and lacking the buildings that have made the Temple of Heaven a must, Ditan Park is still a nice place to visit, if just to soak up the atmosphere.

Other honourable mentions go to the Science & Technology Museum and the Chinese Ethnic Cultural Park – a theme park that clumsily crams all of China's 56 ethnic minorities into one village. To the west, Yayuncun was built for Beijing's hosting of the 11th Asian Games in 1990.

Dominic Fitzsimmons