Shichahai, Houhai & the hutongs
什刹海风景区（银锭桥）
Sunset lakes, live-music bars and grey-brick alleys in one neighbourhood
⚠ Agree rickshaw fares first
- Hours
- Lakeside open 24 hours; shops and bars roughly 11am–11pm
- Tickets
- Free; rickshaws and boats are negotiated on the spot
- Address
- The three lakes Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai; tell the taxi 银锭桥 (Silver Ingot Bridge) for the middle
By day you follow willow-lined shores, then duck into grey-brick hutongs where courtyard doors have laundry hanging outside. Around sunset the little stone Silver Ingot Bridge between Qianhai and Houhai fills with people watching the sun drop behind the Western Hills. After dark the lakeside bars throw their doors open for live music, rock in one, ballads next door, so just walking past is entertainment. Package tours cover the area by rickshaw.