Hutong Hunter: A Staycation at Peking Yard Hotel
Take a deep dive into the places, people, shindigs and more to be found in the hutongs of Dongcheng, Xicheng and Qianmen with the Hutong Hunter.
A colleague of mine once joked about living in the Beijing hutongs: “Move there if you want fast living; you’ll be in and out in less than a month!”
Truer words may have never been spoken, as I had moved into my own hutong apartment – a somewhat generous term for 30 square meters with one window – and was already thinking of getting out due to the unrelenting cold of winter.
Still, there was something about the area that made me want to stay. The old charm, perhaps, or the fact that there was peace and quiet at night away, tucked away from the busy lanes near Beixinqiao. This feeling lingered long after I had parted ways with the little dungeon masquerading as living space, and got me thinking – can the hutong be lived in with comfort?
The humble exterior of your next hutong escape
The answer: short-term stays at one of the city’s myriad hutong hotels – serene little enclaves etched out of the former siheyuan of old.
One such place, situated a stone’s throw from Zhangzizhong Lu Station, is Peking Yard.
I’d visited the café/restaurant/lounge area of the hotel a number of times during Beijing Writers’ Network meetings, thinking it to be nothing more than another hutong-located café. While admiring the venue, one of my Writers' Network colleagues said, “I wonder what the rooms are like here” and, from that day, the idea of staying implanted itself.
Peking Yard's standard double option
And so I found myself on a cold winter morning, having booked two nights, being escorted through the café I was familiar with to the hotel itself.
Out through a short hallway and into a courtyard space, the original siheyuan had been divided neatly into a series of rooms with rooftop seating areas that would’ve been perfect had the weather been a bit less nippy.
Fancy tea set included
I had chosen their simplest option, a standard double (starting at RMB 610 per night, via booking.com) and was pleasantly surprised – the room was small but had a heated floor, fancy shower cabin, and a raised bed beneath a skylight. Simple, but perfect for the minimalist in me.
There was even a tea set and a bit of black tea to make it a fitting place to relax and contemplate the niceties of life.
I’d tried the food at the venue a few times but never took a gander at Peking Yard’s full menu, which was recently upgraded to include one of this editor’s favorite meals – the burger.
Peking Yard serves up a small, but solid, wagyu burger
Not just any burger, but a wagyu burger, and a reasonably priced one at that, only RMB 48 with a side of fries. It’s small but done well – perfectly cooked patty topped with American cheese, tomato, and pleasantly large dill pickle slices. I mentioned the fries once but gotta mention again, though, as they’re crisp, not too crunchy, and lovingly salted.
Another treat is their chocolate lava cake served with a side of vanilla gelato – molten dark chocolate mixed with a cool hit of creamy vanilla is a match made in heaven if you ask me. With a glass of Glenfiddich on the side it’s a fitting end to a nice meal.
The venue is also an ideal place to read while sipping an espresso or other well-prepared coffee
Thanks to Peking Yard’s quiet location close but not too close to Beixinqiao, it’s a nice place to relax and read a book, and quite a few patrons seemed to be visiting just for work or for other kinds of informal meetings.
Peking Yard’s proximity to Zhangzizhong Lu also makes it an ideal jumping off point for trips to places like Fangjia Hutong, which is just a station away with a bit of a walk (shortened if you take the train from Zhangzizhong Lu Station to Beixinqiao Station).
The inner courtyard, a nice place to relax in warmer months
It’s also a hop and a skip away from Nanluoguxiang, the National Art Museum, and other nearby haunts that are worth a daylong excursion of their own.
Besides the standard double option, there are also a Deluxe Double (RMB 858 per night), which features a courtyard facing window; and a Deluxe Double with Patio (RMB 952 per night) which comes with a private terrace area.
Peking Yard Boutique Hotel 北平小院设计酒店
28 Wangzhima Hutong, Dongcheng District
东城区汪芝麻胡同甲28号
010-84048787
*All prices based on Booking.com rates
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Images: Vincent R. Vinci, Peking Yard
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