Yangmeizhuxie Street

Part of Dashilan

A haven for cultural creativity and intangible cultural heritage

There are many rich and valuable ancient cultures quietly located here. It is a creative district for young people and a cultivation base for old culture.

The first to bear the brunt is the Beijing Rabbit God

This is a place to find childhood memories

Except for Lord Rabbit

There are many other intangible cultural heritage sites in Yangmeizhuxie Street.

There are also broken porcelain crafts, paper sculptures, etc.

A must-visit for young people with literary talents

Yangmeizhuxie Street is part of Dashilan, and you can walk out to Rebao's Qianmen Street

In the late Qing Dynasty, this place was once called Yangmei Xiejie, and later it was gradually refined into Yangmeizhu Xiejie. As an old street in Qianmen area, it served as the venue for Beijing International Design Week. Dozens of internationally renowned design companies came here and creatively expressed their design concepts based on the characteristics of the old hutong. It was very innovative.

It is one of the best preserved alleys in old Beijing, with many relics of old Beijing.

I saw a lot of "beauty" in the alleys of Yangmeizhuxie Street, so I named it "Searching for Old Beijing".

Across Yangmeizhuxie Street is the commercial pedestrian street, Dashilan and Xianyukou Food Street

A very short alley with many studios inside. There are almost no people and it seems very empty. But it is full of fireworks and life.

The accommodation is especially recommended, as it is convenient to the subway, quiet, with plenty of places to play, and suitable for cultivating one's sentiments.

Yangmeizhuxie Street, one of the ten most beautiful streets in Beijing, contains a magical library - Model Bookstore, visited by celebrities (such as Wang Luodan and Zhao Ziqi), which displays old books, old objects, new books printed with woodblock prints, and cultural and creative products; Suzuki Canteen (No. 10-14 Yangmeizhuxie Street), with exquisite and delicious food, strong hutong style decoration, simple and friendly; Meeting Someone, just opposite Hanting, although I couldn't go in to eat, I could see the twinkling starry sky lights outside, which was super dreamy and beautiful for taking pictures. There are small shops along the way, about five or six square meters in size, displaying various items, like a small museum. Grandpa's simple leather shop, as soon as you walk in, you can smell the strong smell of leather goods, simple design, good leather; Shen Shen, a beautiful young lady playing the ukulele, has everything from antique cameras to unique antique jewelry; there are also shops specializing in selling postcards, coffee shops, etc.

What impressed me most here was the bookstore. In the quiet bookstore, the occasional sound of flipping books was very pleasant!

When I was making a travel guide, I saw the name of Yangmeizhuxie Street and felt that it had a strong literary and artistic atmosphere. I also learned that Grandpa Shen Congwen once lived here, so I listed this creative alley as one of the must-visit places in Beijing.

Yangmeizhuxie Street is not far from Zhujiajiao Hutong. It starts from Meishi Street in the east and ends at Yanshou Street in the west. Because the street slopes from northeast to southwest, it is called "Xie Street".

Arriving early in the morning, I ran into some grandparents basking in the sun outside. Passing by some old houses with white bricks and gray tiles, covered with creepers, I felt the vitality in the autumn.

There are many surprising small shops on this short street, hidden in this old street, which need to be visited carefully one by one.

Yangmeizhuxie Street is very close to Qianmen. I feel that this place is more artistic than Nanluoguxiang. The uniqueness of this street lies in the quiet beauty of cultural creation, which attracts more high-end literary youths. The key point is that it is not crowded even during the National Day holiday. It is a very quiet street, quiet and artistic. Cherish it while you walk...

Hutongs in Beijing are generally east-west and north-south. Yangmeizhuxie Street starts from Meishi Street in the east and ends at Yanshou Street in the west. Walking along, you can walk from the northeast to the southwest. Therefore, Yangmeizhuxie Street has been here since the Ming Dynasty. This street is considered to have retained some of the original characteristics of the old streets after planning. Although a large number of Internet celebrity coffee shops have been injected into this street and some small streets around it that have been touched by Yangmeizhu, after all, it is not as unrecognizable as the renovation of Qianmen Street, nor as busy as Nanluoguxiang. It is a good choice to walk in the hutongs when you have nothing to do. But there are only public toilets for the bathroom, which are all old-fashioned squat toilets. In winter, they are frozen buttocks, and in summer, they are the kind that faint from the smoke. So visit the hutongs more, drink less water and go to the toilet less. It is best to take public transportation to go here. You can only take a taxi to the street entrance, and all kinds of cars are absolutely unable to drive in.

Although it is a scenic spot, there are still many original residents living in the hutongs, and these shabby-looking old houses and doors are what I am looking for in old Beijing. Yangmeizhuxie Street is very short, so short that I, who has sore feet, finished the walk in a short while.

On Yangmeizhuxie Street, my favorite places are Suzuki Canteen and Model Bookstore. I can’t remember how many times I’ve been there.

——The picture below shows the food at "Suzuki Shokudo"😋

Yangmeizhuxie Street is very close to Qianmen and Dashilan Beijing Wang.

I got off the bus at Qianmen Station and walked to Yangmeizhuxie Street, feeling indescribably moved and surprised. This is a quiet and peaceful place.

It may not be as artistic as Wudaoying, nor as lively as Nanluoguxiang, but it has the atmosphere of fireworks that I like...

The biggest difference between it and the bustling Nanluoguxiang is that after the renovation of Yangmeizhuxie Street, most of the original residents stayed.

It was already afternoon when we arrived at Yangmeizhuxie Street. There weren't many people. Here, you can easily see residents hanging clothes at the door. After walking a few steps, you will see grandpas and grandmas sitting at the door basking in the sun and chatting. Going further, there are several grandpas in front of us playing chess and chatting, speaking fluent Beijing dialect...

This is what I want to see most during my trip to Beijing, and it is also my favorite. I feel an inexplicable warmth coming from it...

Yangmeizhuxie Street is a very nice alley to visit. It is not as crowded as the popular streets. Although there are many popular online stores, this street is still relatively quiet.

A very quiet alley. Not as artistic as Wudaoying, not as lively as Nanluoguxiang. I like it. Every small shop is very interesting. I really feel that the shop owners are living for their dreams.

Yangmeizhuxie Street, where Shen Congwen once lived, is a dead end alley on the west side of Qianmen Street. In its heyday, it was full of bookstores and had a strong cultural atmosphere. Now there are not only some creative shops and restaurants that young people like, but also hutong residents standing in the streets and alleys chatting or basking in the sun. The atmosphere of hutong life is still preserved.

There used to be a department store opposite the Soloist Coffee: Qingyun Pavilion. Mr. Lu Xun loved visiting this store and would often come here to shave, get a haircut and drink tea.

Recommended stores: Book Design, Twelve Moons, Suzuki Shoten, Soloist Coffee, Model Bookstore

Yangmeizhuxie Street is located southwest of Qianmenwai, about half a kilometer west of the west entrance of Dazhalan Street. Together with the seven alleys nearby, it is collectively known as the Eight Great Hutongs, where brothels used to gather. Yangmeizhuxie Street was called Xiejie in the Ming Dynasty. Later, it was said that there was a matchmaker named Yang in this alley, so it was renamed Yangmeixie Street in the Qing Dynasty. During the Guangxu period, it was refined to Yangmeizhuxie Street.

This alley was probably created by people walking around. It was formed in the Yuan Dynasty, or more precisely, the Ming Dynasty. After the Yuan Dynasty established its capital in Beijing, it abandoned Jinzhongdu and rebuilt Dadu. However, the business in Dadu did not develop. At that time, there was a very prosperous market from the west side of Hubaoqiao to Caishikou, so people still went to the old city to buy what they needed. The road from Dadu to Hubaoqiao was gradually walked out.

Yangmeizhu used to be a cultural street. Liang Shizheng, a senior scholar of Dongge during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, and Shen Congwen, a modern writer, both lived on this street.

The whole street is dotted with small shops and studios with their own characteristics. The shops are neither dense nor abrupt, blending in between residents and historical sites.

It is a short alley. It is just around the corner from Dazhalan. It is parallel to Dazhalan West Street. It is not very developed and is a relatively quiet alley. At the end is Liulichang East Street.

I went to Yangmeizhuxie Street in 2015 to record the process of renovation.

I accidentally came across Yangmeizhuxie Street near Qianmen. I had seen Fengfeng recommend it before, but I didn't look for it carefully. I didn't expect to accidentally see it when I strolled past the crowded Qianmen Street. It was evening, and the setting sun shone on this narrow street full of artistic atmosphere, which was particularly warm and peaceful. I visited the shops one by one, and left images of light and shadow in front of each distinctive shop. Especially Suzuki Shokudo, the sand and stone at the door, the lattice glass windows and the straw mats, intersected with the light and shadow to create an elf-like feeling.

In the Qianmen scenic area, walking into the Hutong is really two different worlds from the Qianmen. The small streets are filled with quietness and cultural atmosphere. If you keep walking, you can also feel the living conditions of the locals in the old Hutong.

Most of the streets in Beijing are straight and horizontal, and there are not many diagonal streets. You can experience what diagonal streets are after walking through them. They are not planned and are made by people walking on foot. After avoiding the unrecognizable Nanluoguxiang, I saw Yandaixie Street was about to follow its path. I fled to Wudaoying Hutong, my wallet was empty, and my mood was calmed down after walking into the Imperial College. It is these charming hutongs that add so much fun to life.

I often fantasize about a place with a nice name, such as a street full of plums and bamboos. I am ready to go pick fruits with a basket. I enjoy sweeping the streets. I think there are not many young people like me who sweep the streets. I am a little proud. But I have nothing but a bag but I don’t know the culture of the streets. I also have very little knowledge after tutoring. Forget it, I won’t complain.



The street is neither long nor short. Suzuki Shokudo, SOLOIST, Dawang Candy, Model Bookstore, UBI GALLERY, etc. are all representative businesses. The styles of these businesses are consistent with the literary style of the entire street. Even the Hunan cuisine can be given a romantic name - Yufu Nan. The deeper you go, the closer you are to ordinary people's homes. The old man sitting in front of the canteen with a hoarse voice, the sound of rubbing mahjong in the chess and card room, the vests hanging on the bamboo poles and the old lady who moves slowly, everything is beautiful.

A very distinctive alley, a street heading west from Dashilan. It is not very commercialized yet, but many shops have gradually been developed. There are still many old Beijingers living here. Going west, you will reach Liulichang Cultural Street.

I went to some designer exhibitions in November 2015 and they were very good. I really liked the paper-made rabbit exhibition at Suzuki Shokudo.

Yangmeizhuxie Street is a famous street. It was called Xiejie in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that because there was a matchmaker named Yang in the alley, it was renamed Yangmeixie Street in the Qing Dynasty. During the Guangxu period, it was renamed Yangmeizhuxie Street based on its homophonic pronunciation. In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, Qingyun Pavilion on Yangmeizhuxie Street was a place for scholars to hang out. It was also here that Cai E met Xiao Fengxian. Xiejie also has the former residences of famous Peking Opera artists such as Yang Xiaolou, Pingju Opera artist Xin Fengxia, and Hu Bi master Dai Yuexuan.

Get off at Hepingmen subway station, walk along Nanxinhua Street and Liulichang East Street, and you will see the Changdian Temple Fair.

When we walked into Yangmeizhuxie Street that night, my teammates immediately went to the store at the intersection to buy fruits, beer, roast duck and other snacks for supper, and they were busy all the time. I took a photo of the lights in the upstairs room that was a bit interesting, and then stood below. Suddenly, I saw the proprietress of the store selling cigarettes and alcohol across the street, sitting in the shopkeeper's seat, smoking a cigarette, and her eyes in the smoke seemed to be teasing her cat, and also seemed to be teasing me. The proprietress, I estimated that she was over 60 years old. Her bleached golden hair, the charm of her dress, and the experience of the world made me enter the time of Sai Jinhua in the early Republic of China, and I could hardly walk out. She knew that I was looking at her, and her casual demeanor and charm were really beyond the reach of my pen.



At night, Yangmeizhuxie Street is so charming.

It felt like East Street was quite long, but in fact I turned into Yangmeizhuxie Street without realizing it. I only found out about this later when I walked to the entrance of the alley and saw the sign for Old Street. Then I realized that the style of Yangmeizhuxie Street was very different from that of Liulichang East Street.



This is an old street built in the Ming Dynasty that retains many old residents. It is less than 500 meters long and was once a publishing street. There is also Qingyun Pavilion, which was regarded as the first of the four major shopping malls in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and the former site of Ji'antang.

Yangmeizhuxie Street near Qianmen has many small alleys with art studios on one side and many mahjong parlors on the other. It is very charming.