A hutong is an ancient alleyway or lane found in Beijing which can date back as far as the Yuan dynasty of China in the 13th century. The crisscrossing alleys can now offer a glimpse of another part of this ancient city that is quite different to the major attractions such as the Summer Palace ... Read review
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Advantages: Beautiful buildings and a look at life for many ordinary citizens of Beijing Disadvantages: Can be busy and cramped
A hutong is an ancient alleyway or lane found in Beijing which can date back as far as the Yuan dynasty of China in the 13th century. The crisscrossing alleys can now offer a glimpse of another part of this ancient city that is quite different to the major attractions such as the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City.
The tiny, twisted and interconnected lanes wind through whole areas of the city of Beijing. The lanes are lined with traditional ... ...a courtyard, which are beautiful old fashioned buildings. They often involve carved pillars, window frames and doors and the open spaces of the courtyard lets in air and light to otherwise quite cramped areas-some of the lanes really are tiny with less than a metre of breadth. Most of the hutongs are still used as housing and are vibrant but everyday neighbourhoods and as you walk through them men whip by on bicycles balancing all their boxes, women ... more
A hutong is an ancient alleyway or lane found in Beijing which can date back as far as the Yuan dynasty of China in the 13th century. The crisscrossing alleys can now offer a glimpse of another part of this ancient city that is quite different to the major attractions such as the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City.
The tiny, twisted and interconnected lanes wind through whole areas of the city of Beijing. The lanes are lined with traditional stone houses all arranged in quadrangles, so four houses around a courtyard, which are beautiful old fashioned buildings. They often involve carved pillars, window frames and doors and the open spaces of the courtyard lets in air and light to otherwise quite cramped areas-some of the lanes really are tiny with less than a metre of breadth. Most of the hutongs are still used as housing and are vibrant but everyday neighbourhoods and as you walk through them men whip by on bicycles balancing all their boxes, women shuffle along laiden with market produce and kids dance in and out playing. Sometimes they hardly seem to have moved on for centuries until someone walks by with an MP3 player and a mobile phone.
The hutongs were part of a fairly complex city design spreading out from the Forbidden City in the centre with the areas closest to the centre being inhabited by the upper classes and those connected with the royal family spreading out to the far less well built and decorated areas on the (then) outskirts for the lower merchants. As a result some of the central buildings and courtyards can be quite elaborate even whilst squashed onto streets that are tight to the modern eye and often divided up as the wealth of the area ebbed away.
Hutongs are scattered around the city in various areas although many were destroyed for the 2008 Olympic games in the city (without compensation and removing people who had lived in these areas their whole lives). The programme of destruction has been ongoing for years and is unlikely to stop but now some of the popular tourist hutongs have been renovated and preserved. In particular the hutongs near Qianmen have undergone this transformation meaning that they are protected but have been left a little sterile and an idealised version of the true hutongs elsewhere. Exploring further away from the centre of this area and you come to an area that is still the rickety and untouched hutongs that have long existed-these are peoples' homes though so have some courtesy! For other hutong districts ask around
The best way to see and explore the hutongs is simply to take a walk around them on foot as some of the best parts are so small that even a tuk-tuk would struggle to get in. It is also possible to do a range of tours in tuk-tuks, on bikes and on foot-these have the advantage that you will have a guide and they can take you directly to the 'best' parts, such as the most ornate and carved buildings and the best preserved areas. As the alleys are so winding and can start to look the same, a guide will also prevent you getting lost which is easy to do. However, I still recommend going without a tour as they tend to focus on certain areas that present a set image of China and sometimes in their effort to see the top areas they miss some of the beautiful run-down and real areas. By talking to someone who has been on a tour or knows the hutongs you could find out the commonly visited areas and then get the best of both worlds.
Exploring the hutongs was one of the favourite parts of my stay in Beijing as it is easy to become too involved in the fantastic lives of emperors or the imposing showiness of Communist China. The hutongs are a rare look at the everyday life on many Chinese people today as well as being a historical and often pretty buildings. The fact that they are still lived in houses and functioning neighbourhoods gives them a whole different charm from a simple museum piece preserving the life of a former time.
Advantages: It's a great insight to the living and breathing history of life in Beijing from the local perspective Disadvantages: If you go indepently you may get lost.
The Hutongs are a large expanse of "ancient alleyways" (semi- literal translation) which house a large number of Bejing's families right in the heart of the city. It is really worth visiting, as it gives a more grassroots perspective on living and breathing in Beijing as opposed to the vast imperial palaces like the Forbidden City. What is so great about the Hutongs is that despite all the upheaval that this great city and China has witnessed, they ... ...with hundreds of families still resident.
The organic nature of the Hutongs means that they have sprawled across a large area of central Beijing- easily accessibly from the Tiananmen Square, the shopping district of Wangfujin (if you walk behind the main street), and HouHai (which is a wonderful bar and restaurant district spanning the parameters of a large lake). If you go to both the Bell and Drum Tower you can also get a great aerial view of ...
njim274 22.09.2005 (23.09.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hutongs, Beijing
Advantages: great to see some culture Disadvantages: small streets
The hutongs is small alleyways crisscroding east west acoss the city. They are small narrow street which one car could fit down. In some places only a bike could fit down them.It is a great opportunity to see some culture of Beijing and how people lived in the past. People still live here but not as many as there used to be as younger generations prefer to live in modern homes. Some of the hutong and courtyard homes are protected by Beijings Cultural ... ...there are getting less and less available.
We got a rickshaw ride around the hutongs which had been arranged by a tour operator. Beware it is abit rough around the edges and quite dirty in places however it was worthwhile to see how people of beijing live. At times I felt very enclosed in. Once on the rickshaw ride another women cycled beside us to tell us about the place. She explained the different house types and how different doors represented ...
DeniseKelly40 27.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hutongs, Beijing
Advantages: Another insight into Chinese social history. Disadvantages: Narrow alleys, bleak, and as informative from the outside as the inside.
A hutong is an ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where hutongs run into the several thousand surrounding the Forbidden City.
The word "hutong" originates from the word "hottog" which means "well" in Mongolian. Villagers dig out a well and inhabited there. Hutong means a lane or alley and now refers to a compound with houses set around a central courtyard where old Beijing residents live. The main buildings in the hutong are almost all ... ...houses around a quadrangular courtyard . The guide informs that the quadrangles vary in size and design depending on the social status of the occopier. In days gone by the big ornate quadrangles were occupied by high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants; these were specially built with roof beams and pillars all carved and painted. One of the tours that I went on allowed us a look inside one of these domiciles and a breif meeting with the residents. ...
jasonking12 25.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Hutongs, Beijing
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