Shijia Hutong Museum

The basics

Visitors can wander through the eight exhibition halls in the large courtyard complex. View scale models of hutongs and courtyard homes, exhibits covering notable figures who resided in hutongs, and two rooms with furnishings standard in the 1950s and 1960s as well as the 1970s and 1980. Another display contains a studio with recorded sounds typically heard in hutongs. Combine a visit to the museum with a walking hutong tour to get a feel for life in these traditional alleyways.

Things to know before you go

• The museum is ideal for those interested in history and architecture.

• There’s no admission fee to enter the museum.

• Bring a passport or photo ID for entry.

• Many exhibits are written in Chinese and English.

• There’s a gift shop next door with souvenirs, including painted hutong roof tiles.

How to get there

The Shijia Hutong Museum is located on Chaoyangmen Street in the Dongcheng District of Beijing. The closest subway station is Dengshikou. Take Line 5 and leave the station from Exit A. From there, it’s around a 10-minute walk. Also nearby are the Jinbao Jie and Dongdan shopping areas.

When to get there

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30am to 12pm and 2pm to 4:30pm. Plan to spend around an hour exploring the entire museum. The museum rarely gets crowded, so it can be visited anytime. It’s worth leaving extra time to walk around the hutongs in the area.

Ling Shuhua

The museum contains exhibits on the lives of notable hutong residents, including Ling Shuhua, the former owner of the buildings that became the museum. Born in 1900, Ling was a writer, calligrapher, and painter and featured the house of her birth in her writings. When Nobel literature prize winner Rabindranath Tagore visited China, Ling held a reception at her home, now the Shijia Hutong Museum.