City Walk – Qianmen & Yonghegong, Beijing, China

For this city walk post, I’ll go back to two of my favourite spots in Beijing. Qianmen is one of the last historic places in the city’s core protected from gentrification. The government has rebuilt most of the buildings but kept the old style. I wish they had left more of the old construction, but I can appreciate that modern amenities and safety had to take precedence. The other area that I love to stroll around is the Yongegong Temple near Beiluoguxiang road.

These two areas are lined with hundreds of shops, restaurants and cafes. I especially love finding the latest third wave coffee shops to have opened. They usually start with 2-3 seats and a bar and then over time expand to large locations. A good example would be Metal Hands. This tiny coffee shop that I featured over ten years ago has now grown into a multi-location success.

I’m a bit behind in posting this as these photos were taken in January and February 2025 around the Chinese New Year time. I wanted to share these because I love how packed and intense it gets from people visiting from all around China. There’s a festive atmosphere that’s hard to capture in photos, but I hope it gives you a small taste.