The Official Midnight in Peking Walking Tour

A brutal murder, a botched investigation, and a time Beijing would rather forget. Intrigued? So were we (along with the rest of the world) when author Paul French released Midnight in Peking.
For those who missed the hype, Midnight in Peking is the NYT international bestseller telling the true story of the previously unsolved murder of British teenager Pamela Werner in January, 1937. On the eve of the Japanese invasion of the Chinese city, her horribly mutilated body was discovered at the foot of Beijing’s ‘Fox’ Tower.
The daughter of a retired diplomat and renowned Sinologist, her death shook the tight-knit foreign community to its core. When police investigations inevitably turned to the foreign pleasure dens selling opium and girls in Peking’s ‘Badlands’, the British authorities quickly closed ranks, allowing the culprit to escape into the maelstrom of World War II.
Led by historian Lars Ulrik Thom and his team, this nighttime walking tour transports participants back in time to 1930s Peking. To the Badlands southeast of the Forbidden City where destitute White Russians, foreign expats and opium addicts lived debauched lives almost without consequence; to the street where Pamela lived with her eccentric father ETC Werner, the Fox Tower where her body was found, and even the tree-lined streets of the former Legation Quarter.
Fascinating details woven into the narrative will put the era in context for history buffs, and quirky newspaper cuttings from the time shed further light on this strange time in Beijing’s history. One article from the period even claims that scientists planned to find Pamela’s murderer by extracting the last image burned onto her retina before she died…
We will meet on the corner of Beijing Railway Station East Street, outside the Zhong Gu Hotel, no later than 6h20pm. We strongly suggest taking the subway to Beijing Railway Station (Line 2), Exit C - then walking east for 3 minutes to the start point to avoid being late due to Beijing’s infamous traffic.
The walk ends at 9h30pm with an exhibition of the source material, historic maps and a cocktail at historic NUO Hotel nearby Tiananmen Square, and a portion from every ticket sold will go to a charity for exploited and abused women in China.