Getting off the bus, whisking the dust off my coat, I made the decision to walk over my Saturday.

Bathing in the spring sunshine, and tightening my backpack, I took the first stride, then a secons, then a third, and so on. Unaware of the metropolitan hustle and bustle, with an empty blank mind, I just kept walking. Walking through numerous hutongs, strolling across innumerable courtyards.

Then, unexpectedly, several thousand strides later, I had the legendary Nanluogu Xiang in my face, and a blood-red sky to my back.

Time lapses quietly, as do events. Years of hundred have consumed the splendor of this Yuan Dynasty artery, while in the meantime growing the legend of Nanluogu Xiang, home to several delicate bars.

Delicacy is my comment on this emerging bar street, for its unique quietness as a congregation zone of bars, for its ancient architectures presenting a faithful picture of old Beijing, and for the leisure and ease of those bar-goers in this hutong.

Have had enough of the noise and sophistication of Sanlitun or Shichahai, and want a change? Nanluogu Xiang might be a nice alternative.

* Local Time - the sandglass of Nanluogu Xiang
Area: 30m2, yet 3m high
Business Hours: 1:00pm-12:00 midnight (Depending on what time the owner gets up, opening time ranges between 12:00 noon and 2:00pm)
Feature: Local Time coffee
Add: No. 1 Nanluogu Xiang
Summary: Every bar street has its own timetable and also its own way of measuring time. Local Time is the sandglass of Nanluogu Xiang, and its birth outlines the profile of the whole hutong.

With its somewhat conservative decoration, this bar fits perfectly well with the antiquity of the old hutong in the Gulou area. Big wooden shelf, old wooden table, stout wooden beams¡­are all a reflection of old Beijing.

Yet, the glass roof of the passage connecting the gate to the arch-house betrays the rusticity of this bar. The sunshine penetrates through the roof and lightens the counter. The glasses glisten, while the mixer is more like an actor on the stage presenting a cocktail show. 

* Street Corner - the smell of birch
Area: 65m2
Accommodation: 50 people
Feature: Russian coffee
Business Hours: 2:00pm-2:00am
Add: No. 23 Nanluogu Xiang
Tel: 010-86964458
Summary: A couple(both Russian majors who have lived in Russia for quite a long period) manages this bar. Perhaps it is because the Russian culture has filtered into the blood of this couple that, with the all-Russian style roof and the fireplace against the main wall¡­ Street Corner offers you a completely Russian atmosphere.

The husband is a cognoscente of red wine. With carefully chose wine suppliers, the red wine provided by Street Corner may satisfy the clients in all aspects. Besides, though a bar, Street Corner also provides coffee, ground from a coffee machine imported from Italy, worth 45,000 Yuan.

Want to watch a live coffee-grinding show? Try Street Corner.

* Here - for photography lovers
Business Hours: 2:00pm-2:00am
Feature: daily coffee
Tel: 010-84014246
Add: No. 97 Nanluogu Xiang
Summary: Also nicknamed as "No.2 There" because the bar before Here was called "There," Here offers you a world of "black and white.

The boss, a former photographer, is interested in photographing ordinary people. He decorates this bar with his own works, all black and white, recording the ordinary life of ordinary Beijingers as well as the ups and downs of Beijing City in the last several years. The black and white snapshots will make you meditate.
Even those tiny adornments interspersing across the bar are related to photography -- the outdated cameras, mounds of photographing books, and craftwork of shooting value¡­

Three big rooms make up this bar, forming into a "T" shape. Each room has its own layout and theme to cater to people of different moods.

If you are a frequent client, you are also entitled to a cup of Gongfu tea prepared by the boss personally.

* Xiaoxin' s Bar - for the delicious food
Space: 55m2
Accommodation: 20 people
Business Hours: 10:00am-2:00am
Tel: 010-64036956
Add: No. 103 Nanluogu Xiang
Summary: Xiaoxin's Bar is more like a cozy home. Plain decorations create an easy and intimate atmosphere. Yet careful clients will discover that each piece of furniture, though casually laid here and there, is a piece of masterwork.

On the roof of the bar is a set of connected louvers, through which daytime sunshine penetrates and brings those inside warmth and softness, and through which the night-lovers may appreciate a beautiful nocturne.

However, the biggest attraction of Xiaoxin's Bar is nothing but the delicious food prepared by the boss Xiaoxin himself. Cheesecake, spaghetti, and the most well-renowned pizza all make your presence here a memorable stay.

* Passby Bar - for free travelers
Business Hours: 2:00pm-2:00am
Feature: Passby Yangrouchuan Pizza (RMB50)
Passby Gongbaojiding Pizza (RMB50)
Lost Shoes (for ladies RMB32/cup)
Tel: 010-84038004
Add: No. 108 Nanluogu Xiang
Summary: Occupying an entire courtyard and featuring a tour, Passby Bar is managed by a couple. The husband is a free traveler who has bicycled to Tibet from Beijing. This bar is decorated with souvenirs brought home by him from all over China, and pamphlets helpful for free travels. Besides, it has free traveling lectures delivered twice weekly. (By free, do you mena independent?)

With the unique Passby pizza, the slender grilled mutton, and the Western cheese, even if you are the most traveling of hearts, you will be satisfied to take a break from trekking, as you drink beer and chat with those sharing the same hobbies.

* Hongrenfang Bar - for the Chinese "Tian Di Yuan Huang"
Space: 70m2
Accommodation: 50 people
Business Hours: 2:00pm-2:00am
Tel: 010-64049088
Add: No. 111 Nanluogu Xiang
Summary: 12 pendant-lights resemble 12 horoscopes, while 12 tables symbolize 12 traditional Chinese animals. So, whatever year/month you were born in, you can have your own table, and your own light.

Red light together with green plants presents you an interesting picture of the Eastern mystique. The whole wall against the counter is covered by a fresco telling a Buddhist myth. At the center of this house, 8 tables form into the shape of a club - an auspicious flower in ancient China.

Yet this bar is most famous for its 'unopened doors' - doors too heavy to be opened. Want to know more? Go and have a look yourself.