All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French

The Inaugural Destination Peking Walking Tour

Posted: October 7th, 2021 | No Comments »

Very nice to see the Destination Peking walking tour get under way – aesthetes, authors, scholars and scoundrels. It’s all been set up by Bespoke Beijing and is hosted by the historian and guide Jeremiah Jenne of Beijing on Foot. There’s plenty of hutongs, history and some exercise but, fear not, it all ends at the former Grand Hotel de Peking (now the Nuo Hotel Beijing) on Chang’an Dajie with a cocktail – Harold Acton’s receipt for the Gloom Chaser, the hottest cocktail in 1936 Peking as featured in Acton’s novel Peonies and Ponies (Harold’s receipe here). If you’re intested in when the next tour is taking place contact Bespoke Beijing. If you can’t get to Beijing (i.e. pretty much everyone who isn’t already there!), the book of course is available online, at good bookshops and from the publisher Blacksmith Books.

The Gloom Chaser


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