Seven Instagram Accounts That Show Beijing in a Different Light

Beijing’s diverse culture, interlaced alleys, and 22.7 million people have long been the subject of photography. It's no surprise then that Instagrammers have followed suit, starting accounts that hope to compile and arrange, decipher and make sense of trends in a city constantly in flux. Other times, accounts simply exist to allow the people of the world to look on in bewilderment and ponder just how in the hell some of China's slogan shirts ever came to be made.

Below is a collection of our favorite (ongoing and since deceased) accounts that show Beijing in a different, occasionally weird, and often wonderful light.

@beijingsofaproject
If you've ever wandered around Beijing's narrow hutongs, you won’t be a stranger to the plethora of abandoned sofas, chairs, and stools that demarcate various living quarters, car spaces, and worn-in hangouts. This is where the city truly comes to life, with neighbors and residents perched on repurposed objects for a chit-chat, Chinese chess, or just to take a nap after a long summer's day. The creators of Beijing Sofa Project, ChaCha and Yuanyuan, find beauty in the inexplicable significance that unwanted furniture is endowed with once it moves from the inside to outdoors, and have been taking photos of such since 2015, providing a small yet meaningful glimpse of life here.

@beijing.betweensummerandwinter
Aiming to catch the fleeting moments of a city that’s “between the Summer and Winter Olympics, between cosmology and technology, between hallucination and dream,” Polish photographer and reporter Beata Wasilewska's Instagram account shares snapshots of her life in Beijing. Spanning eye-catching street photography, the documentation of folk fashion, black and white found film, and smoky street food scenes, the images here truly capture what it is to wander Beijing with a curious mind.

@storiesofbeijing
Devoted to “telling the stories of Beijing through photos,” Stories of Beijing compiles postcard-like photos alongside interesting facts about Beijing. The featured objects are very diverse; from historical anecdotes to cultural knowledge, iconic architecture to niche museums around the city, to traditional crafts and old brand restaurants to retirees in the park, each photo helps you to understand Beijing better via cultural significance and makes for a great resource to enrich your Beijing bucket list.

@laduzivita
A word of warning: the photos from this account might give you the willies. Laduzavita is one (brave) man's attempt to document prime porcelain from the city as well as further afield. As anyone will know after having visited Beijing, the awe of seeing the Great Wall will stay with you forever but it's likely a trip to the toilet that will tickle all of your senses for years to come. Luckily now you can explore them the easy way – from behind the safety of a screen.

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Below are three accounts that have stopped posting, but still remain of interest to newbies and long-timers alike thanks to their original content.

@humansofbeijing-official (ended in 2015)
As the title indicates, Humans of Beijing features pictures of residents of Beijing as well as first-person stories from the subjects (in both Chinese and English). Although the posts are restricted to one question and one answer, many provide unexpectedly reflective responses, indicating that the photographer spent time with each person so as to better empathize with them. One of the best we have found so far: “Q: When you were younger did you ever do anything your parents didn't know about?” “A: I would run around the school naked late at night, sometimes I would wear underwear and sometimes I would wear nothing at all.”

@beijingquilts (ended in 2017)
This quaint (and quilty) account comprises photos of old handmade duvets, sheets, and blankets found hanging in and around Beijing's hutongs for drying and airing out. Many feature old-style Chinese patterns, making them both bold-colored artifacts as well as beautiful adornments to the often grey and crumbling worlds they inhabit. It's a sight that will surely dwindle as the city's alleyways are cleaned up and the blankets gradually replaced by less intricate mass-produced specimens.

@tshirtsofbeijing (ended in 2017)
It wouldn't be a list of quirky Chinese finds with an Instagram dedicated to Chinglish T-shirt slogans. T-Shirts of Beijing may be dead but it had a decent go at collecting the poetic, obscene, funny, and downright mind-boggling text that can still be seen to this day worn by many an unawares. Enter and behold “the undiluted Beijing sass in T-shirt form."

Lastly, don’t forget us at @the_beijinger! Tag us, give us a shout, or simply let us know what you think makes this a city like no other. Happy snapping!

One of the best places to people watch in Beijing are in its many parks.
Click here to see overviews of some of the city's best.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kuang@thebeijinger.com
Instagram：beijinglights_

Photos courtesy of featured Instagram accounts