THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Beijing - page 96

called hutong buildings with more than one storey. This has become a fashionable district
for high-ranking cadres to live, and some properties here have sold for more than US$1
million. In addition, a number of new luxury housing estates - very popular with foreigners
- have also been built in courtyard-house style; the best examples are around Deshengmen
in the north of the city.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: AROUND THE SHICHA LAKES
Bysubway Your best bets are Beihai North and Nanluoguxiang stations (both line 6), which
bring you out near Qinghai Lake's south end; Jishuitan (line 2) is close to Xihai, a smaller
lake just to the northwest of Houhai.
Gettingaround The best way to get around is by bike. Traffic within the hutongs is relatively
light, and you're free to dive into any alley you fancy, though you're almost certain to get lost
- in which case cycle around until you come to a lake.
Tours Regular hutong tours leave from the courtyard between the Bell and Drum towers.
Visitors are biked about in rickshaws, which initially sounds great, though in reality it's hard
not to feel a bit of a plum. Private drivers are hard to avoid - they'll pressurize you to go with
them. Be sure to barter; you should pay around ￥ 60 for an hour, and expect to be taken to
a few shops where the driver gets commission. You'd be better off, however, booking a tour
from the booking office on the west side of the Drum Tower ( ￥ 80/hr). Best of all, take one
of the tours run by agencies such as The Hutong or Bike Beijing .
Qianhai and Houhai
24hr • Free; pedaloes from ￥ 40 per person per hour • Beihai North, Nanluoguxiang (both line 6) or Jishuitan
subway (line 2)
Just north of Beihai Park is pretty Qianhai ( 前海 , qiánhǎi) lake, an appealing, easygoing
place away from the city traffic. Having been dredged and cleaned up, the area around it has
become a drinking and dining hotspot, though be warned that the lakeside bars and restaur-
ants are overpriced and rather tacky, and their staff rather pushy; some favour renting a ped-
al- or rowing boat and drinking on that instead. For the really pleasant places, you'll have to
head in from the shore .
As you head north along Qianhai, look out for the hardy folk who swim here every day; it
may be tempting to join in, but foreigners who do so often end up getting sick. You can hire
boats from several jetties around the lake, while in wintertime it becomes a gigantic ice-skat-
ing rink. From the top of the cute humpback Yinding Bridge ( 银锭桥 , yíndìng qiáo), which
spans the lake's narrowest point and marks the divide between Qianhai and Houhai ( 后海 ,
hòuhǎi), you can see the western hills on (very rare) clear days. Turn right, and you're on
Yandaixie Jie ( 烟袋斜街 , yāndài xiéjiē), an alley of little jewellery and trinket shops that's
one of the best places in Beijing to buy contemporary souvenirs .