Use these links for read all the details about the Days Inn Forbidden City and watch the video.

ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I began walking about 8:40 a.m. from the Days Inn towards Nanlouguxiang, one of the best preserved Hutong areas in Downtown Beijing. a “hutong” is a neighborhood of narrow streets or alleys occupied by traditional courtyard, siheyuan residences. Nanlouguxiang has a history of more than 700 years and is one of Beijing’s oldest hutong areas and a historical protection area since 1990…View image. We entered from the southern end at Di’anmen on Ping’an Dajie, following the signs…View image…

The majority of the more than 30 cafes, bars…View image, tour operators…View image, clothing and handicraft shops were still closed this early in the morning. Most are decorated in traditional Chinese style while still others use the courtyards to create a lively atmosphere. The shops may have been closed but it wasn’t too early for delivery people, locals and other tourists who enjoyed the relative coolness and quiet at this hour.

delivering goods in the Beijing hutong, China 

locals schmoozing in Nanlouguxiang, Beijing, China
There is a famous watering hole/restaurant called the Pass By Bar with unusual t-shirts including one that perfectly summed up my philosophy of life, “travel or be dead.” The Pass By Bar had a storeroom filled with boxes containing thousands of different designs and sizes, but after an hour of looking in the boxes, moving them around and climbing on shelves, no size medium. This t-shirt was meant for me and we sadly moved off down the main street, past a pet cricket. Crickets are symbols of luck and auspicious virtue to the Chinese while some enjoy their singing and still others, cricket fighting!

the t-shirt from Pass By Bar, Beijing that was sold out, China 

a cricket for good luck in Beijing, China
Past The Central Academy of Drama, alma mater of Zhang Ziyi (B\Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and many other Chinese TV and film stars…peeked into side alleys…View image… where women were steaming buns…View image, admired the stone lions in front of some houses that were used to safeguard the family and symbolize their social status during feudal times.

instead of a Ferrari, a lion in old Beijing showed your status, China 

houtong menu in Beijing
Continued walking up Luoguo Lane main street built in 1267 with a few interesting historical sights. FYI: You’ll always know what a historical sight is because the Chinese Government erects markers with information in three languages. Two that caught our eye:

The “Bench Mark” or measuring stone…View image… of Han White Jade, discovered during road work construction. This stone, and 70 others, was set up in 1914 by the Beijing Engineering Bureau to measure the water level of Beijing and only three remain today. A “Bench Mark” stone was used to compute and measure the altitude of Beijing; and

Wanqing Pawnshop had five owners and stayed in business until the liberation. Only three doors remain with the steel door of the pawnshop sealed in the wall.