Beijing by Foot

19/11/2024

📍 Tianjin, China (c.1894)

In this image, you can spot the ruins of the Wanghailou Church (望海樓教堂) in the background on the left. This Catholic cathedral, also known as Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, bears silent witness to one of the most dramatic episodes in Tianjin’s history - the violent anti-Christian riots of 1870. Though the church was burned during the unrest, it would later rise from the ashes, restored to its former glory in 1897.

🔍 Image: University of Bristol Historical Photographs of China (Ref: Bk02-01)

📚 Originally published in “Collins’ Wide World Geography Reader, Book IV. Asia” (William Collins, c.1905)

26/06/2024

Photograph of the Forbidden City just inside the Meridian Gate and showing the River of Golden Water, Photograph by the Swiss Olympian, adventurer, journalist, and writer Ella Maillart.

Source/Citation: University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: JC-s302. Photograph by Ella Maillart. Rubber stamp on the back of the print: ‘PHOTO ELLA MAILLART / 10 av. Gaspard-Vallette / GENÈVE’.

01/03/2024

Exploring the Forbidden City this past weekend, we stopped off in the garden of the Emperor’s mother. It’s a lovely change of pace from the sprawling ceremonial courtyards in the center of the palace. We have another Forbidden City walk coming up at the end of March.

27/02/2024

Wonderful tour of The Church of the Saviour, also known as North Church/北堂 organized by the RASBJ last night. Father Simon Zhu and Father Matthew Zhen led our group on a fascinating walk and discussion about the 321-year history of the church.

08/02/2024

Wishing all of our friends here in China and around the world a Happy and Prosperous Year of the Dragon! 新年快樂！

The picture is a street vendor selling candied hawberries (糖葫芦 tanghulu) during celebrations in Beijing ca. 1930s. Photo by the amazing Hedda Morrison.

Citation/Source: Historical Photographs of China album reference: Hv24. Handicrafts Album Number 2. The original photograph is in the Hedda Morrison Collection at the Harvard-Yenching Library.

24/01/2024

Jeremiah has a new post at the China Books Review.

Of all the sojourners who made Peking their home (if briefly) in the early 20th century, few had as fascinating a life as nurse, writer, and activist Ellen LaMotte. LaMotte's book Peking Dust is an account of a 1916-1917 trip she took to Asia with her partner, the heiress and art collector Emily Crane Chadbourne.

In 1916, an American activist and writer traveled to China from the frontlines of World War I. What she saw in the city delighted her; what she saw in the o***m trade appalled her.

05/01/2024

Tiananmen Square in Beijing, looking south from the rostrum of Tiananmen (Gate) in 1950 and 2024.

03/01/2024

Chongwenmen Gate (also known as Hatamen in some sources) in Beijing, ca. 1910-1915. Source/Citation: University of Bristol – Historical Photographs of China reference number: OH01-003.

28/12/2023

View of a snow-covered Jingshan Park (景山公园) in Beijing ca. 1930s by German photographer Hedda (Hammer) Morrison. Source Citation: University of Bristol, Historical Photographs of China album reference: Hv17. Pei-hai album 1.

25/12/2023

A wintry look west along Legation Street (東交民巷) with the entrance to the French Legation on the right, ca. 1910.

Source/Citation: University of Bristol, Historical Photographs of China. William Cooper Collection. Reference number: WC-s11.

20/12/2023

Carving and storing ice for use later in the year was an important business in old Beijing. In this 1905 photograph, two workers move a frozen block along one of the city’s moats.

Source/Citation: University of Bristol, Historical Photographs of China. Ru02-34 Ruxton Family Collection. Original Located: Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library, University of London

15/12/2023

The snow this week gave a new hat and look to the statue at the Confucian Temple in Beijing.

13/12/2023

Happy Birthday to Yinzhen, AKA The Yongzheng Emperor, born at the Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) in Beijing on December 13, 1678. Yinzhen became emperor of the Qing Empire in 1722 (after a bit of family fracas) and ruled until 1735.

11/12/2023

Are you visiting Beijing over the holidays? Do you have friends or family coming to town? Do you have time off and want to explore Beijing’s rich history?

While we’ve come to the end of our public walk schedule for 2023 (We’ll be back after Chinese New Year 2024), Beijing by Foot still has a few dates in late December and the first week of January available for private walks and tours of Beijing’s most famous sites and lesser-traveled byways.

Whether it’s the majesty of the Forbidden City and Summer Palaces or a trip back to the intrigue and mystery of the city’s warlord era, we have activities for all interests.

Dates are filling up quickly! Feel free to contact us with any questions or to book a walk this month.

See the link in the bio for more information.

06/12/2023

In 1903, artist Katharine Augusta Carl (1865-1938) painted a large portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) to be featured at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, commonly known as the St. Louis World’s Fair. The painting traveled by a special train carriage to Tianjin, then by boat to Shanghai, and finally aboard a Pacific Mail steamer to San Francisco. Today, the portrait is part of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Sackler galleries.

Source and Citation: University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: Mx04-070. Cadbury Research Library archive finding number: DA26/2/2/3 (John Preston Maxwell Papers).

04/12/2023

Are you visiting Beijing over the holidays? Do you have friends or family coming to town? Do you have time off and want to explore Beijing’s rich history?

Beijing by Foot still has a few dates in late December and the first week of January available for private walks and tours of Beijing’s most famous sites and lesser-traveled byways.

Whether it’s the majesty of the Forbidden City and Summer Palaces or a trip back to the intrigue and mystery of the city’s warlord era, we have activities for all interests.

Dates are filling up quickly! Feel free to contact us with any questions or to book a walk this month.

30/11/2023

We always encourage people to look up whenever we visit the Forbidden City (or any other imperial site in Beijing). The rich details and artistry hidden in the ceilings are incredible. One of our favorites is the three-dimensional coiled dragon who graces the cupola in the Qianqiu Pavilion, located in the back garden of the palace.