This Hutong Pub Crawl Makes for an Alternative Means of Celebrating Christmas

‘Tis the season for merry greeting, eating and gathering. But if you’re not one for massive parties or big Chrismas buffets, then what’s there to do? The answer might lie in a pub crawl happening this weekend in the Dongcheng hutongs.

Organized by Cesar of Beijing Experience, this Christmas Day pub crawl will go to five hutong-based bars over the course of an afternoon. It’s the perfect way to have a bit of fun and make new friends over the holidays, especially if you aren’t tied down by anything yet.

We caught up with Cesar in the lead up to the event to find out more about the pub crawl and why it’s focused in the hutongs.

How long have you been putting on the Christmas pub crawl?
We’ve only put on one other Christmas pub crawl prior to this four years ago. Other than that I’ve only been doing normal pub crawls through the hutongs since then.

Which places will you visit along the route and what makes them special?
I want to show off the different vibes that can be found in the hutongs. Usually we do three bars, but this time we’ll stop at five. We usually go to places like Side Street and Drum & Bell, which will be included in this route. nugget will also be on the route, as well as two other surprise locations.

In your opinion, what’s the draw of venues and bars in the hutong? What makes them special?
Since the Bricking Up a few years back we’ve lost a lot of nice bars. As a tour guide, I felt doing a hutong pub crawl is a good and fun way to show the character of the hutongs. We even did a seven bar pub crawl once, from lunch until late, but it was too much for me (haha).

The Beijing Experience Christmas Hutong Pub Crawl will be happening on Sunday, Dec 25 from and will take place from 4pm onwards. It’s RMB 65 per person (welcome shots included) but seats are limited. To register, just add Cesar on WeChat (QR code in poster).

READ: Last Minute Gift Shopping Sorted at Aotu Space's Christmas Art Market

Images: Unsplash