With more bass shops, more pipes, and more robots, Immersion Guides' Summer 2008 Houhai Area Guide is better than ever: There are over 60 new venues, expanded coverage, updated streets, and a sleek design, to help you find that perfect bar or cafe for a summer evening.
For the first time, Immersion Guides also ventures north of Gulou Dongdajie, into neighborhoods east and west of Beiluogu Xiang. We’ve heard whispers that this will be the next hub of gentrification – perhaps the pizzeria, 3-story bar and courtyard hotel are the first outposts? For music fans, there are also a few trusty guitar and repair shops out here.
We also have new coverage of the neighborhoods south of Houhai and west of Qianhai, north of Gulou Xidajie, as well as parts of Xihai. This way, we’re able to include more of our favorite hostels, cafes, shops, restaurants and more!Nanluogu Xiang especially has been all a flurry lately, but this area guide will show you all the cool new spots, including art galleries and bars down the little-traversed tributaries of this perhaps too-thronged alleyway – why won’t they ban cars and make it a real pedestrian street?
Recently re-constructed and renovated streets also get a fresh look in the 2008 Area Guide – what restaurants and shops have survived the bulldozer? Yandai Xiejie has lost some old faces and gained some new ones, though Huxley’s is still hanging on. New cafes and restaurants have opened on Jiugulou Dajie, joining Luce and Luna.
With trees sprouting their summer canopies and construction hopefully dying down for the Olympics, now is the perfect time to grab a map and go wandering the hutongs!
