Beijing's Longest Hutong - Dongjiaomin Lane

Dongjiaomin Lane is an east-west street that starts from Chongwenmen Inner Street in the east and ends at the east side of Tiananmen Square in the west. It is about 1,552 meters long, making it the longest hutong in Beijing. There are many Western-style buildings from the early 20th century near the hutong. When you come out of Exit E of Chongwenmen Subway Station, you will see Tongren Hospital. Not far to the west is Beijing Xinqiao Hotel, the first joint venture hotel in China after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was originally a German barracks. Continue walking west, and you will see a towering spire in the distance. It is a large church - St. Michael's Church, which was built in 1901 by a French missionary named Gaud. The church faces south and is built in the European Gothic style. The gray brick walls and three spire bell towers on the facade make it mysterious and solemn. The church is not open to the public. Across from the church is the former Belgian Embassy, which is now the Zijin Hotel. This hutong is perfect for a quiet and clean walk. There are century-old trees along the road, and embassy buildings can be seen everywhere: the former Japanese Legation, the China Court Museum Film and Television Exhibition Hall, and the Dongjiaomin Lane Hotel, which was formerly the Spanish Embassy, etc. The former French Post Office is very obvious on the roadside. It is a single-story Western-style building with gray bricks and white arched windows. The eaves are decorated with continuous triangular pediments. The iron lamps between the windows hang like lily of the valley flowers, with distinct lines. At the intersection with Zhengyi Road stands the China Court Museum, which was originally the former site of the Yokohama Specie Bank. It is a two-story Western-style building with red and gray colors in a classical style. There is a three-story iron dome building at the corner, with a red dome and a flagpole on top. Today, I couldn't go any further west due to traffic control, so I will have to come back next time to finish walking this hutong.