Upcoming Public Events
Boxer Rebellion - Under Siege Walking Tour
Hear the incredible story of the summer of 1900, when 4,000 foreigners and Chinese lived under siege from radical mystic rebels for 55 days. Follow us into the old Legation Quarter to hear stories about the bombing of the French embassy, the wavering Qing Court and how 200,000 bullets flew into the sky without finding a single target. The walk ends at our hutong gallery for a small exhibition curated by Beijing Postcards of original photos and maps from the early 1900's.
Where to start: Chongwenmen Subway Station, Exit B (崇文门地铁站B口)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Midnight in Peking Walking Tour
On January 8 1937 the body of a young foreign girl was found brutally mutilated at the foot of Beijing’s city wall. The murder shocked the foreign community in the capital and made headlines around the globe.
Based on the murder case we have created a walk that shows a largely unknown side of republican Beijing. At the center is the so-called Beijing Badlands, an area where white Russians and retired soldiers ran bars and brothels, catering to the respectable high society of the old Legation Quarter.
We will piece together the background story of a crime committed during the anxiety-filled days where China was on the brink of war with Japan. From the hutong where Pamela lived with her father, to the allegedly haunted Fox Tower where the body was found.
All of this is possible because by a remarkable coincidence all of the main sites of the crime case still exist to this day.
The unsolved murder of Pamela Werner was largely forgotten till the author Paul French stumbled upon an unlabeled box of dusty yellow paged files at the British National Archives. The documents mostly written by Pamela Werners father Edgar Chalmers Werner inspired Paul French to write his novel Midnight in Peking that became an instant bestseller when it came out in 2011.
The walk ends at the Beijing Postcards gallery where we will serve 1930 style cocktails and present archival material related to the case, not least a 200 pages long Chinese police report we've been able to obtain, that is not even mentioned in Paul French's book.
Where to meet: Near Beijing Railway Station
Cost: 450RMB per person
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour
On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven.
After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.
The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.
Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before.
Where to start: North gate of Temple of Heaven (天坛北门)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? History of the Hutong is the history of Beijing told through the hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
100 Years, 12 Visions: The Evolution of Modern Beijing
The Evolution of Modern Beijing is the story of how Beijing has developed over the last hundred years to become the city it is today.
What was the city like under imperial rule? How did it change after the last dynasty collapsed? What did the decision to move the capital to Nanjing in 1928 mean for Beijing? How did the Japanese occupation impact the city? And how come it is so difficult to find a piece of Cultural Revolution architecture? Join us as we search for answers to these questions and more.
We start the walk at the Urban Exhibition Center, where from the impressive miniature models we will get an idea of what the city looks like today and what it looked like during the dynasties.
To explore what came between then and now, we must venture into the hutongs. Walking through the narrow alleyways we will also discover the enormous changes that Beijing underwent following the communist liberation in 1949, when up through the 1950s Beijing was shaped like a “little Moscow”. Suddenly, for the first time in Beijing's history, the city became an industrial center. Production was even moved in to the densely populated hutong districts, when the communist powers sought to change society through the capital’s working class.
When we finally end the walk at the Beijing Postcards gallery, we will look at a display of original maps from our collection, tying together Beijing's development from a walled enclosure to the city of ever-expanding ring roads that we know today.
Where to meet: Beijing City Planning Exhibition Hall (北京城市规划展览馆) 100 meters from Qianmen Subway Station, Exit B
Cost: 300RMB per person; 150RMB/child
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? History of the Hutong is the history of Beijing told through the hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Saijinhua & Republican Beijing Walking Tour
“The life and legend of Beijing’s most famous prostitute: Sai Jin Hua, a walk in Beijing’s old red light district” - the story of a very unlikely hero with tiny Lily feet.
A hundred years ago, in a country on the verge of collapse, a woman from the shadows stood up and defended her Chinese countrymen. Abandoned by the imperial government, and occupied by western forces looking for revenge, the fate of Beijing was placed on the narrow shoulders of a common courtesan. But who was this saint like figure? A plain prostitute or a Maria of the East? The lover of a German general? A Brothel Madam? An opium addict? Or a liar and a cheat?
Follow us, in the small footsteps of a very unlikely hero with tiny lily feet, through old opium dens and brothels still standing, when we look for answers. During this walk we will track down the life of Beijing’s most famous prostitute - Saijinhua, and create a portrait of Dashilar, the more than 600 year old commercial district of Beijing, and Ba Da Hutong - the old red light district. The Walk ends with an exhibition of related pictures from Beijing Postcards collection.
Where to meet: Beijing Postcards Gallery, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Byway Dashilar (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB per person
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Boxer Rebellion - Under Siege Walking Tour
Hear the incredible story of the summer of 1900, when 4,000 foreigners and Chinese lived under siege from radical mystic rebels for 55 days. Follow us into the old Legation Quarter to hear stories about the bombing of the French embassy, the wavering Qing Court and how 200,000 bullets flew into the sky without finding a single target. The walk ends at our hutong gallery for a small exhibition curated by Beijing Postcards of original photos and maps from the early 1900's.
Where to start: Chongwenmen Subway Station, Exit B (崇文门地铁站B口)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour
On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven.
After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.
The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.
Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before.
Where to start: North gate of Temple of Heaven (天坛北门)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
New Walk: From Dynasty to Republic
Travel through time in the heart of Beijing
Taimiao is a peculiar pocket of peace just next to the Forbidden City. Starting off at this tranquil spot in the very heart of Beijing you can travel through time from dynasty to republic in the span of an afternoon, because even today the otherworldly feel of the imperial court is almost better preserved here than inside the actual palace. The emperor used to come at Taimiao to pray to his ancestors, at that time no commoner were allowed into this sacred compound, but in 1912 the son of heaven abdicated, and things changed.
Only a couple of hundred meters away the Zhonshan park opened as the first public park in Beijing. Suddenly Intellectuals, high society ladies, revolutionaries, and prostitutes became fresh ingredients in the melting pot of new republican society. It was a sensation that women and men could now mingle side by side free from the traditional customs that for thousands of years had kept them almost sacredly apart. Inside the park military coups were planned, fashionable photoshoots taken and political manifestos discussed.
The incessant turmoil did not stop till Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China from the rostrum of the Tiananmen Gate in 1949. This ignited the transformation of the area just south of the Gate into the very symbol of new China - the Tiananmen Square.
Join us when we will teleport ourselves through one hundred years of the Capital’s history in an afternoon, by visiting three of the most defining spaces of modern Beijing: Taimiao, the Central Park and the Tiananmen Square before we land in the Beijing Postcards hutong gallery for a well-deserved drink.
Where to start: 工人文化宫东门 (Beijing Workers’ Cultural Palace - East gate)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Saijinhua & the Brothels of Dashilar Walking Tour
“The life and legend of Beijing’s most famous prostitute: Sai Jin Hua, a walk in Beijing’s old red light district” - the story of a very unlikely hero with tiny Lily feet.
A hundred years ago, in a country on the verge of collapse, a woman from the shadows stood up and defended her Chinese countrymen. Abandoned by the imperial government, and occupied by western forces looking for revenge, the fate of Beijing was placed on the narrow shoulders of a common courtesan. But who was this saint like figure? A plain prostitute or a Maria of the East? The lover of a German general? A Brothel Madam? An opium addict? Or a liar and a cheat?
Follow us, in the small footsteps of a very unlikely hero with tiny lily feet, through old opium dens and brothels still standing, when we look for answers. During this walk we will track down the life of Beijing’s most famous prostitute - Saijinhua, and create a portrait of Dashilar, the more than 600 year old commercial district of Beijing, and Ba Da Hutong - the old red light district. The Walk ends with an exhibition of related pictures from Beijing Postcards collection.
Where to meet: Beijing Postcards Gallery, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Byway Dashilar (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB per person
Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour
On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven.
After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.
The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.
Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before.
Where to start: North gate of Temple of Heaven (天坛北门)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
New Walk: From Dynasty to Republic
Travel through time in the heart of Beijing
Taimiao is a peculiar pocket of peace just next to the Forbidden City. Starting off at this tranquil spot in the very heart of Beijing you can travel through time from dynasty to republic in the span of an afternoon, because even today the otherworldly feel of the imperial court is almost better preserved here than inside the actual palace. The emperor used to come at Taimiao to pray to his ancestors, at that time no commoner were allowed into this sacred compound, but in 1912 the son of heaven abdicated, and things changed.
Only a couple of hundred meters away the Zhonshan park opened as the first public park in Beijing. Suddenly Intellectuals, high society ladies, revolutionaries, and prostitutes became fresh ingredients in the melting pot of new republican society. It was a sensation that women and men could now mingle side by side free from the traditional customs that for thousands of years had kept them almost sacredly apart. Inside the park military coups were planned, fashionable photoshoots taken and political manifestos discussed.
The incessant turmoil did not stop till Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China from the rostrum of the Tiananmen Gate in 1949. This ignited the transformation of the area just south of the Gate into the very symbol of new China - the Tiananmen Square.
Join us when we will teleport ourselves through one hundred years of the Capital’s history in an afternoon, by visiting three of the most defining spaces of modern Beijing: Taimiao, the Central Park and the Tiananmen Square before we land in the Beijing Postcards hutong gallery for a well-deserved drink.
Where to start: 工人文化宫东门 (Beijing Workers’ Cultural Palace - East gate)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
100 Years, 12 Visions: The Evolution of Modern Beijing
The Evolution of Modern Beijing is the story of how Beijing has developed over the last hundred years to become the city it is today.
What was the city like under imperial rule? How did it change after the last dynasty collapsed? What did the decision to move the capital to Nanjing in 1928 mean for Beijing? How did the Japanese occupation impact the city? And how come it is so difficult to find a piece of Cultural Revolution architecture? Join us as we search for answers to these questions and more.
We start the walk at the Urban Exhibition Center, where from the impressive miniature models we will get an idea of what the city looks like today and what it looked like during the dynasties.
To explore what came between then and now, we must venture into the hutongs. Walking through the narrow alleyways we will also discover the enormous changes that Beijing underwent following the communist liberation in 1949, when up through the 1950s Beijing was shaped like a “little Moscow”. Suddenly, for the first time in Beijing's history, the city became an industrial center. Production was even moved in to the densely populated hutong districts, when the communist powers sought to change society through the capital’s working class.
When we finally end the walk at the Beijing Postcards gallery, we will look at a display of original maps from our collection, tying together Beijing's development from a walled enclosure to the city of ever-expanding ring roads that we know today.
Where to meet: Beijing City Planning Exhibition Hall (北京城市规划展览馆) 100 meters from Qianmen Subway Station, Exit B
Cost: 300RMB per person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, Outside of TRB Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour
On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven.
After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.
The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.
Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before.
Where to start: North gate of Temple of Heaven (天坛北门)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Boxer Rebellion - Under Siege Walking Tour
Hear the incredible story of the summer of 1900, when 4,000 foreigners and Chinese lived under siege from radical mystic rebels for 55 days. Follow us into the old Legation Quarter to hear stories about the bombing of the French embassy, the wavering Qing Court and how 200,000 bullets flew into the sky without finding a single target. The walk ends at our hutong gallery for a small exhibition curated by Beijing Postcards of original photos and maps from the early 1900's.
Where to start: Chongwenmen Subway Station, Exit B (崇文门地铁站B口)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour
On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven.
After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.
The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.
Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before.
Where to start: North gate of Temple of Heaven (天坛北门)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Midnight in Peking Walking Tour
On January 8 1937 the body of a young foreign girl was found brutally mutilated at the foot of Beijing’s city wall. The murder shocked the foreign community in the capital and made headlines around the globe.
Based on the murder case we have created a walk that shows a largely unknown side of republican Beijing. At the center is the so-called Beijing Badlands, an area where white Russians and retired soldiers ran bars and brothels, catering to the respectable high society of the old Legation Quarter.
We will piece together the background story of a crime committed during the anxiety-filled days where China was on the brink of war with Japan. From the hutong where Pamela lived with her father, to the allegedly haunted Fox Tower where the body was found.
All of this is possible because by a remarkable coincidence all of the main sites of the crime case still exist to this day.
The unsolved murder of Pamela Werner was largely forgotten till the author Paul French stumbled upon an unlabeled box of dusty yellow paged files at the British National Archives. The documents mostly written by Pamela Werners father Edgar Chalmers Werner inspired Paul French to write his novel Midnight in Peking that became an instant bestseller when it came out in 2011.
The walk ends at the Beijing Postcards gallery where we will serve 1930 style cocktails and present archival material related to the case, not least a 200 pages long Chinese police report we've been able to obtain, that is not even mentioned in Paul French's book.
Where to meet: Near Beijing Railway Station
Cost: 450RMB per person
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Movie Night: New Women
New Women is a feminist masterpiece from 1935 set in Shanghai. It portrays the ruthless exploitation of a female author that tries to make a career in a male dominated industry. The movie caused a stir when it was released not least because the lead actress Ruan Lingyu committed suicide on the International Women’s Day on March 8, 1935. Ruan Lingyu had a story very similar to the role she played in New Women. The movie will as always start with a 30 minutes introduction to the historical background of the story.
Where to meet: Beijing Postcards Gallery, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Byway Dashilar (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 110RMB per person (incl. cocktail, beer & soft drinks)
Talk: Three Weddings & A Divorce
From bound feet to high heels: Beijing women in the 20th century
When were women first allowed to attend school in the capital? When was the tradition of bound feet abandoned? How did communism affect the idea of how a good woman should behave?
Three Weddings and A Divorce is the story of three women living in Beijing. Grandmother Zhang with "liberation feet", the retired office worker Sun, and Xue Rui, a career woman in her thirties. Between them they cover the last hundred years of Beijing's history. Through their lives, marriages, and one divorce we explore the transformation of the women's role in the capital of China, based on Beijing Postcards' research, interviews, and a selection of historical photographs from our collection.
Where to meet: Beijing Postcards Gallery, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Byway Dashilar (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 180RMB for in-person talk; 80RMB for Zoom online talk
Saijinhua & the Brothels of Dashilar Walking Tour
“The life and legend of Beijing’s most famous prostitute: Sai Jin Hua, a walk in Beijing’s old red light district” - the story of a very unlikely hero with tiny Lily feet.
A hundred years ago, in a country on the verge of collapse, a woman from the shadows stood up and defended her Chinese countrymen. Abandoned by the imperial government, and occupied by western forces looking for revenge, the fate of Beijing was placed on the narrow shoulders of a common courtesan. But who was this saint like figure? A plain prostitute or a Maria of the East? The lover of a German general? A Brothel Madam? An opium addict? Or a liar and a cheat?
Follow us, in the small footsteps of a very unlikely hero with tiny lily feet, through old opium dens and brothels still standing, when we look for answers. During this walk we will track down the life of Beijing’s most famous prostitute - Saijinhua, and create a portrait of Dashilar, the more than 600 year old commercial district of Beijing, and Ba Da Hutong - the old red light district. The Walk ends with an exhibition of related pictures from Beijing Postcards collection.
Where to meet: Beijing Postcards Gallery, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Byway Dashilar (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB per person
A Crash Course to the Forbidden City
During the dynasties the Imperial Palace existed only as an idea to most people. It was the root of power. A mysterious presence that balanced heaven and earth. Present yet concealed right in the middle of the Capital. Stories of the castrated eunuch servants, the beautiful concubines and not least the vast amount of treasure in the palace were told all around the empire, but surrounded by a more than 10 meter high wall. No commoner could freely take a glance at the Imperial residence, in fact people did not even know what the emperor looked like. This was what earned the palace the name the Forbidden City. Today we can freely enter, hordes of people are everyday moving through the most sacred halls of Imperial China, but what is kept away from us, what we cannot readily access is the mindset, the ideas so deeply rooted in the imperial architecture.
“A Crash Course to the Forbidden City” is a humble attempt to unlock the meaning behind the chambers of the Palace. In a condensed and hopefully entertaining way, we wish to give you a comprehensive history of the palace from when it was built 600 years ago until when the last boy-emperor finally left in 1924.
Where to start: Donghuamen, East Gate of the Forbidden City (东华门)
Cost: 420RMB/person; 210RMB/child (for 7-12 years old)
Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour
On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven.
After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.
The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.
Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before.
Where to start: North gate of Temple of Heaven (天坛北门)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Boxer Rebellion - Under Siege Walking Tour
Hear the incredible story of the summer of 1900, when 4,000 foreigners and Chinese lived under siege from radical mystic rebels for 55 days. Follow us into the old Legation Quarter to hear stories about the bombing of the French embassy, the wavering Qing Court and how 200,000 bullets flew into the sky without finding a single target. The walk ends at our hutong gallery for a small exhibition curated by Beijing Postcards of original photos and maps from the early 1900's.
Where to start: Chongwenmen Subway Station, Exit B (崇文门地铁站B口)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
History of the Hutong Walking Tour
What is all the fuss about?
When you arrive in Beijing you soon get the idea that the narrow Hutong alleyways contain the very soul of China’s capital. But who built these charming maze-like neighbourhoods? “History of the Hutong” is the history of Beijing told through the Hutongs. We will take on more than 2000 years of history and piece together a comprehensive narrative seen from street level. Utilizing a huge floor map of Beijing that we can stand on, old antique depictions of the city and other related archival material we will penetrate deep in to the urban maze of old Beijing in search for answers.
Where to start: Beijing Postcards, No. 97 Yangmeizhu Street (杨梅竹斜街97号)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child
Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour
On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven.
After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.
The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.
Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before.
Where to start: North gate of Temple of Heaven (天坛北门)
Cost: 300RMB/person; 150RMB/child