Explore Beijing's Hutongs While Giving Back to China's Children

Original Drew Pittock theBeijinger

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From now until the end of the year, local tour group Newman Tours will donate all profit from downloads of their Beijing Hutong Audio Guides to Heart to Heart, an organization that provides corrective surgery for children with congenital heart disease across China.

The app tours may not have a guide, but they're packed with just as much information

Beginning in one of the capital’s most (in)famous hutongs, Nanluogo Xiang, the Beijing Hutong Audio Guide provides an introduction to how these seemingly never-ending alleys and byways came to be, and what role they’ve played since they first started spreading throughout the capital roughly 700 years ago. Additionally, you’ll be introduced to some of Beijing’s most colorful characters such as Zhang Zongchang AKA the "Dogmeat General" as well as guided to lesser-known sights such as the childhood home of China’s last empress, Wanrong.

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Even the most seasoned expat will tell you that Beijing is so dense with historical peculiarities that you could spend decades here without fully appreciating the totality of its hidden quirks. The hutongs alone are relics of a past that’s as sinuous and labyrinthine as the communities themselves. Even if you haven’t lived in one, chances are you’ve spent plenty of nights eating and drinking in them, surrounded by specters of the city’s bygone days.

If those faces don't scream "Fascinating!" then we don't know what does

What makes Newman Tours’ Beijing Hutong Audio Guide tour unique is that, while it is possible to book a tour guide who can lead your group, it’s not entirely necessary as the tour is also available on the Android and Apple app stores, meaning you can enjoy the day at your own pace. The tour costs RMB 45 to download, all of which will be donated to Heart to Heart.

To download the app and learn something new about the city all for a good cause, simply: