6 places to spend an afternoon.
Gulou is a walking neighborhood. Independent galleries, record shops, and small studios along Beiluoguxiang and the connecting hutongs. The Drum Tower itself is the obvious anchor; the better hours are spent wandering the lanes north of it. Caochangdi and 798 are the right side trip for contemporary art.
3 things to do, 3 shops, all in Gulou.
The art in Gulou isn't really in Gulou. The Drum Tower and Bell Tower hold down the neighborhood proper, but the serious looking happens out at 798, where UCCA occupies a Bauhaus electronics plant, and at Dongbianmen, where Red Gate has run out of a Ming watchtower since 1991.
Founded in 2007 by Belgian collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens, UCCA fills a Bauhaus-era electronics factory in the 798 Art District. The program runs to museum scale: solo shows by Picasso, Matthew Barney, Cao Fei, Liu Xiaodong. It remains the largest privately funded contemporary art institution in China.
Yuan-dynasty timekeepers that once governed the city's hours, the Drum Tower and Bell Tower now anchor Beijing's Central Axis, granted UNESCO status in 2024. Climb the Drum Tower for hourly drum performances and the clearest southward view over hutong rooftops you will find in the city.
Brian Wallace opened China's first private contemporary art gallery in 1991, originally inside a 500-year-old Ming watchtower at Dongbianmen before settling into the Bauhaus brick of 798. Monthly rotations cycle roughly 20 represented artists like Lu Peng and Zhou Jirong, and the residency program, running since 2001, brings in over 70 international artists a year.
Gulou Dongdajie is where the vintage scene actually lives, with Mega Vintage holding the block for over thirteen years and Indie Music stacking Chinese indie rock on vinyl and cassette a few doors down. For objects rather than clothes, Lost and Found in the Guozijian courtyards is the better stop.
Liu Ke has run this shop on Gulou Dongdajie for over thirteen years, making it the oldest independent vintage boutique on the street. Stock is hand-picked from Korea, Japan, and Thailand. The name changed quietly a while back. The edit still sets the standard everyone else on the block measures against.
A Guozijian courtyard shop run by a Chinese-British couple, stocking enamel ware, vintage signage, and salvaged household objects gathered from across China. House-designed ceramics and home goods sit alongside the finds under wood beams. One of the few independent homeware shops in the Gulou orbit with a clear point of view.
Vinyl, CDs and cassettes line the shelves at 24-3 Gulou Dong Dajie, with deep sections for Chinese indie rock, folk and punk. A chalkboard tracks the month's new arrivals. Gig posters cover the walls, and the counter works as a noticeboard for the city's live circuit. Founded 2011.
Last updated
The hotels worth booking in and near Gulou.
Restaurants, bars, and cafes in Gulou.