Beijing, China
Walking Tours in Beijing with StreetLore
I'm 34, born and bred in Dongcheng. I'm a software developer who loves a good bowl of zhajiangmian and a night stroll around the hutongs.
StreetLore is an audio walking companion that narrates the lore of Beijing as you walk or drive — origin moments, named-person episodes, era anchors, neighborhood mythology. Themes covered include history, culture, civic, performance, nature, leisure.
Popular spots covered in Beijing
6 hand-picked stops with researched narration. Every listing below ships with a curated lore beat — the same content the app speaks while you walk past.
01Forbidden City
museumThe Forbidden City is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty Emperors, and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by the Palace Museum and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
02Tiananmen Square
squareTiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square is a city square in the city centre of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City imperial palace complex. The square holds the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. They were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2024 as a part of the Beijing Central Axis.
03National Museum of China
squareThe National Museum of China is an art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The National Museum of China has a total construction area of about 200,000 square meters, a collection of more than 1.4 million items, and 48 exhibition halls. It is the museum with the largest single building area in the world and the museum with the richest collection of Chinese cultural relics.
04National Centre for the Performing Arts
theatreThe National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) (国家大剧院), colloquially described as The Boiled Egg (水煮蛋), is an arts centre containing an opera house in Xicheng, Beijing, China. Designed by French architect Paul Andreu, the NCPA opened in 2007 and is the largest theatre complex in Asia. The NCPA is semi-spherical in appearance, with a long axis length of 212.20 meters in the east-west direction, a short axis length of 143.64 meters in the north-south direction, a height of 46.285 meters, an area of 119,900 square meters, and a total construction area of approximately 165,000 square meters, including 105,000 square meters of main buildings and 60,000 square meters of underground, auxiliary facilities, with a total cost of 3.067 billion yuan.
05China Media Group Guanghua Road Office Area
landmarkThe CCTV Headquarters is a 51-floor skyscraper consisting of two conjoined towers that sits on the East Third Ring Road, Guanghua Road in the Beijing Central Business District (CBD). It serves as the headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) and is the world's 10th largest office building. Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren of OMA were the architects in charge for the building, while Cecil Balmond at Arup provided the complex engineering design.
06Jingshan Park
parkJingshan Park is an imperial park covering 23 hectares immediately north of the Forbidden City in the Imperial City area of Beijing, China. The focal point is the artificial hill Jingshan. Formerly a private imperial garden attached to the grounds of the Forbidden City, the grounds were opened to the public in 1928.
What StreetLore sounds like in Beijing
Below: the brand voice, in the voice notes the app uses for Beijing.
“Think of me as your laid-back Beijinger friend. I might mention how winter smog isn't as bad as people say or how the hutongs are the soul of the city. I know my Lao She's from my Peking Ducks. Avoid clichés about pandas or the Great Wall—it’s not all we talk about. Skip the touristy postcard talk; focus on the blend of old and new in the city.”
Ready to walk Beijing?
StreetLore is a free download. Open it in Beijing and start walking — the lore lands as you pass each place.