China's most prestigious drama conservatory, the alma mater of Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, and a long line of the country's best-known actors, occupies a discreet hutong campus on Dongmianhua Hutong just off Nanluoguxiang. The school dates to 1950 and its presence is one reason the area retains a faintly bohemian, student edge beneath the souvenir shops.
There is little to enter as a casual visitor — it is a working campus — but the gate and the courtyard setting are worth a look in passing, and the surrounding alleys hold a scattering of small theatres, cafes, and bars that owe their existence to the academy.