Barbarians, Rogues, and Rebels: The Story of Beijing’s Legation Quarter
This walk takes us through Beijing’s former legation quarter, once the heart of the city’s foreign community, and straight into the heart of Old Peking. Forced upon Beijing’s residents by gun and treaty, the legation quarter was a world unto itself where a polyglot mix of diplomats, soldiers, spies, criminals, and commercial enterprises flourished surrounded by the decay of the once mighty imperial capital.
We’ll discuss the history of Beijing’s international settlement and learn about some of the people who lived there. We’ll look at such pivotal events as the Anglo-French invasion of 1860, the Boxer War, and the Japanese Occupation. Along the way, we’ll search for what remains of the architectural legacy left by the pre-revolutionary foreign community and dish on some of the dark secrets, strange tales, and unsolved mysteries that still haunt the streets and lanes of the Legation Quarter and its environs.
Duration: About two hours
Upcoming Beijing Legation Walking Tours
300 RMB per person (260 RMB for members of The Hutong)
Price includes all guide fees and tickets
Consider a Private Tour!
Looking for a walk that fits your schedule? Interested in a personal experience for you or your group?
Private historical walks of Beijing’s Legation Quarter are available for individuals, families, schools, and company groups.
Private walks are 1900 RMB total for up to five people including all admission costs, guide fees, and tips.
What others have said...
“It totally brought the area and the peoples alive. I have been in that area before and had really no idea what I was looking at and now I know. Jeremiah is so pleasant and his presentation so lively.”
Your Walk Leader
Jeremiah Jenne is a writer and history teacher based in Beijing since 2002. He taught Late Imperial and Modern Chinese History for over 13 years and has written extensively on China for The Economist, South China Morning Post, Journal of Asian Studies, Asia Society/China File, Los Angeles Review of Books, Radii China, The Beijinger, and the World of Chinese. His work can be found in the anthologies China in 2008: A Year of Great Significance, The Insider’s Guide to Beijing, and the 2015 collection While We’re Here: China Stories from a Writer’s Colony. Jeremiah is frequently asked to speak or lead workshops on Chinese history, culture, and cultural adaptation for students, embassies, organizations, and company groups from around the world and is the proprietor of Beijing by Foot, which organizes educational programs and historic walking tours of Beijing’s most famous sites and hidden by-ways. You can follow him on Twitter @jeremiahjenne or online at jeremiahjenne.com.