Dongjiaominxiang

Dongjiaominxiang

Dongjiaominxiang is a patriotic education base.

Dongjiaominxiang is the longest hutong in Beijing, stretching approximately 3 kilometers in total from the east side of Tiananmen Square in the west to Chongwenmen Inner Street in the east. Every city has lanes of various sizes—Beijing calls them “hutongs,” which originated in the Yuan Dynasty. For centuries, these hutongs have been like blood vessels, closely intertwined with the lives of Beijingers. As the saying goes, “Of the 360 famous hutongs, the nameless ones are as numerous as cow hair,” illustrating just how densely hutongs are spread throughout Beijing. Nowadays, these historic old alleys continue to witness the daily lives of Beijingers and record the historical changes of the ancient capital over thousands of years.

Dongjiaominxiang was established in the late 13th century when grain from southern China was transported via the Grand Canal to the Yuan capital, Dadu, and unloaded here. As a result, this lane was then called “Jiangmi Lane” (Rice Lane). In the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty, when the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, “Jiangmi Lane” became a long street within the city. It is the longest hutong in Beijing and served as the foreign legation quarter during the old Republic of China era.

Address: Dongcheng District, Beijing

Type: Featured Neighborhood / Historic Architecture

Recommended Visiting Time: 1–2 hours

Opening Hours:

Open all day

Ticket Information:

No admission fee.

Source: Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development