While most Beijing residents are acquainted with Chaoyang, Dongcheng, and Haidian Districts, Xicheng has remained a little off the beaten path. The old neighborhoods west of the Forbidden City and Houhai might not have the cafe cool of Gulou or the modern charms of Sanlitun, but it is an area rich in history and culture. Back streets and alleys still feature the shops and streetside food stalls of an earlier era in the capital’s past (by which we mean pre-2015), and there is no shortage of temples and parks to explore.