Community Matters: Gulou Under Lock and Key, Tales of the Night Watch With Bespoke Beijing

Kipp Whittaker | Apr 30, 2014 5:30 pm | Add a comment | 2016 reads

Be transported to an older time when Beijing was one of the most policed cities in the world. Bespoke Beijing joined forces with the historians behind Beijing Postcards to bring you a tour of the surrounding areas of the Bell and Drum Towers, on the beat of the city's night watchmen to uncover this particularly riveting part of Beijing's history.

The tour focuses on the “banner people,” and their role of policing the city against the the revolutionary forces acting in opposition to the Qing Dynasty. There are many first hand accounts documented in police archives published in 1851 on how the city was originally combating insurgents. Also the tour will explain how the Drum and Bell Towers were an integral tool in creating a daily rhythm in people’s lives.

Quote:
“Drawing on months of painstaking original research, Beijing Postcards historian Lars Ulrik Thom will reveal how the Banner Watchmen kept the city safe from murderers, drunks and rebels once the gates of the city were closed for the evening, the tools and techniques they used to maintain order, and the power struggle that ensued when a modern police force was installed in 1901.” – Tom O’Malley, Bespoke Beijing

Availability is limited and space is running out, so please contact nightwatch@bespoke-beijing.com for tickets (RMB 300) and more info. The May 1, 2, and 10 tours are already sold out, so hurry up and contact them to reserve a space for the final showing on May 11.

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