Three alternative sights in Beijing

A short stroll from the hotel, the historic home of one of China’s most revered writers is a little-known cultural gem. While Wangfujing is now known for its glittering malls, visitors who step through the courtyard’s narrow entrance are transported to another time. The modest, single-storey residence, with its persimmon-planted courtyard, is where Lao She wrote many of his best-known works. Many of them drew heavily on his upbringing in Beijing, with characters speaking the local dialect. On a table, his diary is poignantly open on the date of his untimely death in 1966, which followed a beating from the Red Guards, during the Cultural Revolution.

Tucked among the skyscrapers of the central business district, this pocket-sized park has a rich history. During the late Ming dynasty, it was home to the Temple of the Sun, with an altar used for ritual sacrifices by the emperor and his retinue. Today the park is one of Beijing’s most vibrant urban spaces, and a great place to tap into the rhythm of the city. As dawn breaks, squads of tai chi and qi gong practitioners go through their fluid motions, followed a little later by groups of ballroom-dancers. Towards the end of day, badminton players and boom-box dancers descend. Meanwhile, a stream of often-elderly kite enthusiasts launch their home-made contraptions from the pretty pagoda perched atop a rocky outcrop.