Wansong Laoren Pagoda Beijing

Dating back to the Mongol Yuan dynasty but partially rebuilt in the 1980s, this nine-tiered brick pagoda sits in a lovely walled garden of pomegranate trees and grapevines, with a hotchpotch of historical hutong timber frames and stone carvings scattered about. A bookshop sells old postcards and pots of jasmine tea. The lǎorén (old man) in the tower’s name refers to Wansong Xingxiu (万松行秀), a Zen Buddhist master from the Yuan dynasty.