Hutongs
Hutongs are those quaint housing areas that fit many tourists’ pre-conceived notions of what Beijing looks like.
The word hutong originally referred to alleyways. These alleyways were formed when people built homes around a courtyard. A single-story house was built around this courtyard, and the lanes between the houses became known as hutongs. The houses were called quadrangles or siheyuan. “Si” is four in Mandarin. Walkways or hutongs linked the siheyuans together. But, in general, people today consider the entire area of housing and shops to be hutongs. Hutongs are sometimes so narrow that three or four bicycles can mean gridlock. Beijingers are buying more cars these days. Finding a place to park them becomes problematic. Regular fire trucks are too big for the hutongs. The inventive Chinese have adapted three-wheeled scooters to haul fire-fighting equipment around in the hutongs. Hutongs date back to the early 13th century. The housing was initially clustered around the emperor’s palace, which a couple of centuries later became the Forbidden City. The houses were for lesser officials who didn’t qualify to live inside the Forbidden City’s walls. Soon similar housing sprang up for the rest of the people. But the farther away people lived from the Forbidden City, the less important they were in society. The elaborateness of the concrete houses decreased as the distance from the Forbidden City increased. Living near the Forbidden City thus became the status symbol of the day. A door painted bright red served as entrance to the siheyuan. A pair of stone lions usually stood guard at this door. People had to cross over a high step to enter the courtyard. They then came to a large stone screen. This screen was built to protect the courtyard’s residents from curious eyes peering in from the street. Not too many of these courtyards exist today, unless the property owners have restored the quadrangles. Those that remain belong to the wealthy—a recent news article reported a foreign couple spent $250,000 restoring their hutong home. Or, more likely, siheyuans have been turned into boutique hotels or upscale restaurants. |
One of my favorite activities is to just wander through the hutongs, snapping pictures of the entrance to the homes behind the red doors. I especially like to do this in the morning because that's the only time you can get some snacks, such as youtiao (fried bread dough sticks).
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A good place to stayOn our last trip to Beijing, we stayed at the Beijing Hutong Culture Inn and Hostel.
It is tucked away in a quiet hutong that initially was very difficult to find for our friends who picked us up at the airport. However, it’s only about a five-minute walk to GuLou Dong Dajie where you can catch the #107 bus to the Line 5 subway stop, Beixinqiao. The hotel also provides a rickshaw ride once a day to the street or to the GuLou or Andingmen subway stations. Regular taxis will not take or pick you up at the hotel, though motorcycle taxis will take you there from subway stations. Our room was basic, with cable TV and free Internet connection. It was clean and quiet. Most of the front desk staff speaks some English. I really liked it because it was in the hutongs. I would go out about 7 a.m. to join the Chinese at small restaurants for breakfast. Some Chinese foods, such as youtiao (fried bread sticks) are available only in the morning. The Downtown Backpackers Hostel is roughly in the same area. Friends have recommended it. |
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Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.