Just south of Zhengyangmen lies the area of Dashilan. Once home to merchants and migrants from outside the city, today it’s more of a giant tourist trap that hangs on to the kitschy idea of “Old Beijing”. Be that as it may, head to the lanes just southwest of Qianmen – and away from the official Dashilan areas – and you’ll be greeted by streets like Yangmeizhu Byway.

Once home to bookshops and printing presses well into the Republican era, Yangmeizhu Byway (杨梅竹斜街 Yángméizhú Xiéjiē) has today somewhat returned to these artsy roots. Here you’ll find well-known cafés like Soloist alongside shops for interesting souvenirs like paper cut maps of world cities and wanghong restaurants.

But there’s one spot on this street that I’ve often walked past that was always shut, yet intriguing all the same: a building set back from the street, with both ancient and contemporary features – a tiled roof, exterior wooden walls that double as secret windows, a rusted metal entranceway.

Each time I’d walk past, it’d be closed without a soul in sight, always making me think: “dang, I wonder what’s in there.”

Finally, the doors have been opened thanks to an unlikely event – a photowalk, photography exhibition and concert put on by a team led by one Felix Li. “We want to use this space and event to see what it looks like through the eyes of different photographers” Li tells me during a visit to the building on a muggy Wednesday afternoon.

Along with visitors coming in and out to view the exhibition of vintage photographs, there’s a flurry of activity going on. Professional photographer Cai Teng, who Li tells me will be demonstrating water plate photography on Jul 16, is busy taking photos of a model seated in the small courtyard space, all on a plate camera converted to print polaroid shots.

Li explains more about the building. Owned by the municipal government and named Micro Hutong by its architect Zhang Ke, who has a knack for making the most of Beijing's small space in his designs, it’s meant to be a study of how contemporary courtyard living works.

“Courtyard houses were once reserved for single families, but in recent times many families would move in and divide them up” explains Li. “So the building is a way of reimagining how to do that but make the most of small space at the same time.”

Indeed, it is a small space, with a seating area near the door that leads into a “courtyard” area filled with small rooms stacked atop one another. There are large windows which open into the courtyard, making for little privacy but acting as a sort of commentary on the close and not so private life in a modern siheyuan. Even the toilet has a large window; making quite the view to wake up to every morning.

With the building all set up to go, the photo exhibition has been going on for roughly two weeks, supplemented by events happening all the way up until Saturday. “On Jul 14 the vinyl shop across the street will come here to showcase some of their records, and on Jul 15 people can come and show their collections of slides and negatives” says Li. Jul 16 kicks off with a photowalk, basically a tour of the neighborhood during which participants can snap photos to share later, followed by a wet plate photography demonstration and, finally, a concert put on by nugget records.

The concert, which will start around 7pm, will include the bossanova and acoustic sounds of Hazel Shang, a Beijing native, followed by beat maker and DJ StrawberryPapa, whose home base of Yunnan has greatly inspired his work, mixing hip-hop beats with jazz and lo-fi sensibilities. Drinks will be provided by the nugget team during the concert, which will run late into the night.

While the time for their stay at the Micro Courtyard is short, Li hopes that it can inspire more events in the space at the future. “It’s usually closed all the time, if it’s open then it’s original purpose of acting as a showcase of sustainable living can truly be realized."

FilmNeverDies Dashilan Photowalk takes place this Saturday, Jul 16 from 2.30pm to 6pm, with a live concert from 7pm at Micro Hutong (51 Yangmeizhu Byway, 杨梅竹斜街51号). Tickets for the photowalk and subsequent activities start at RMB 50 and can be purchased by scanning the QR code above.

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Images: Vincent R. Vinci, courtesy of Felix Li