After a gruelling seven day work week, chances are you can’t wait to relax and unwind this weekend. Or … you could join the throng at the 6th Annual Nanluogu Xiang Festival, in full swing throughout Saturday and Sunday.

This year, according to Plastered T-Shirts owner Dominic Johnson-Hill, the festival will be organised exclusively by the local government. That might explain the theme / slogan for this year’s festivities: ‘Ancient Beijing Hutong: The World's Nanluoguxiang’ . Only slightly less baffling than ‘Civilized Chaoyang: Magnificent With Me’. 

Because the main north-south alley gets so busy on weekends these days, most of the action will be taking place at No. 31 Qinlao Hutong, from 9.30am to 4.30pm on both days. It's a large, vacant courtyard space that will host heritage performances of glass blowing, shadow puppetry, drumming, ethnic dancing and more. Sounds like fun? Umm, well according to the Global Times, stores up and down the street will be offering discounts, but that remains to be seen.

In years past the festival has been a good excuse for a wander, with obligatory drink stops at Salud, Pass-by and the like. But it should be said that the character of the street has changed a lot in the past 12 months, with rent hikes and business closures that we reported on here. According to Johnson-Hill, “If a new place opens on the street now you can be 80 percent sure it will be a snack shop." His design company Plastered T-Shirts was one of the first western businesses on Nanluogu Xiang, and has played a key role in the street's rising popularity. But now, overrun with domestic tourists every weekend, and with landlords wanting to capitalize, the curse of fame surely means its days as Beijing's trendiest strip are at an end.