Old cities like Beijing generally boast their fair share of disembodied spirits wandering around or in China’s case zombie-esque beings lumbering about. That’s right, in Chinese culture spirits are a lot more physical than in western philosophies. Chinese ghosts don’t really float or vanish through walls but are much more practical and way more physical. If they are an ethereal presence then they generally need to possess a body to do anything or be seen. That is one of the first things I learned on my Beijing ghost tour last Saturday night.
Our tour, a private tour with a group of friends, met at the edge of the hutong district just north of Beihai Park, within the imperial city’s boundaries, where we were greeted by our guide, Daniel. He led us through dark alleyways, around an ancient palace, and through dimly lit parks as he told us of some ancient spirits and other horrifying anecdotes regarding torture, evil despots, and some interesting cultural traditions surrounding the dead.
Unlike many ghost tours in the West, this one is chalk full of history and interesting stories while only a portion consists of actual ghost stories or encounters. I was perfectly fine with that as it had its creepy moments and was very interesting throughout. A few in our group were quite scared at different points of the tour and Daniel kept it very entertaining and engaging.
Since we had a private tour, we started rather late and were out during the witching hour, which in Chinese culture is the hour of the dead between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. This is traditionally when spirits are out and about on their business. This is also when most Chinese people are holed up and sleeping, so the streets and alleys we meandered were mostly abandoned adding to the effect.
I enjoyed the Beijing Ghost Tour and would recommend it to anyone interested in delving into Chinese, particularly Beijing, history and culture a bit deeper.
How to book a tour
A friend found this tour online. It was through Newman Tours, pretty much the official ghost tour provider for Beijing and Shanghai. They offer a variety of other tours as well (Forbidden City, Great Wall, Xi’an, Shanghai) all led by a native English speakers. There are public tours scheduled on their website, but private and select tours can be scheduled directly through them. It costs a bit more but is more personalized and flexible.
Our guide just happened to be Daniel Newman the owner of the company. He came to China to study kung fu many moons ago, but quickly abandoned that dream when he realized an 18 year old couldn’t effectively train at Shaolin when all of his peers had been doing it since they were little kids. He started the tour company a few years ago and has done much of the research to develop their specialized tours like the ghost, gangster, and warlord tours. The company has been covered on news outlets from China Daily to CNN Travel. Be sure to look into them when planning your trip to China.
