Counter-Mapping the Lived Experiences of Ageing Residents in Historic Beijing: An Acupoint-Meridian Approach through Film

This paper proposes a counter-mapping approach to visualising and analysing the everyday lived experiences of ageing residents in Beijing’s historic Hutong neighbourhoods through film. Adapting the metaphor of urban acupuncture, it introduces an acupoint–meridian framework that identifies emotionally and socially significant micro-sites (“acupoints”) in the neighbourhood and the repetitive, habitual routes and routines (“meridians”) that connect them. Through scene-by-scene analysis of two Chinese films— Mr. Six (2015) and The Old Barber (2006), the study reveals how ordinary places such as shaded benches, alley corners, and food stalls, as well as temporal rhythms of daily activities such as eating, working and resting, sustain continuity and belonging in later life. Together, these findings articulate a spatio-temporal diagnostic tool for urban design, demonstrating how this cinematic counter-mapping method can surface overlooked geographies of marginalised groups, and thus support more participatory and inclusive practices to historic neighbourhood renewal.