Wudaoying Hutong: Beijing’s Coolest Old Street

Quick answer: Wudaoying Hutong, a Ming-dynasty lane near Beijing’s Lama Temple, is now lined with independent boutiques, galleries and courtyard coffee shops – visit on a weekday morning or early evening to see it without the weekend crowds.

Wudaoying Hutong mixes centuries-old residential courtyard housing with some of Beijing’s best independent coffee and small galleries. See our Beijing local guide for the rest of the city.

A lane with Ming-dynasty roots

The hutong dates from the Ming dynasty, when it housed barracks for the Five Military Camps – the source of its name. By the Qing period it had become a residential lane for officials and merchants, and it runs roughly 636 metres between the Guozijian area and the approach to the Yonghegong Lama Temple, close to the Confucius Temple.

What’s there now

The lane now holds independent boutiques, coffee shops – including Metal Hands Coffee, set in a former 1950s repair workshop – small galleries and courtyard bars, interspersed with grey-brick siheyuan housing still in residential use.

Getting there and costs

Walking the lane costs nothing, though individual galleries and bars may charge admission and coffee typically runs to thirty to sixty yuan. The nearest station is Yonghegong Lama Temple on Metro lines 2 and 5, with Exit D about five minutes from the western end.