TCT invited guest blogger Jennifer Raezer to share her take on the fast-disappearing hutong alleys of Beijng. Jennifer is co-founder with her husband, David, of Approach Guides, cultural travel guidebooks that offer a new approach to understanding and appreciating the world’s most important historical sites.
Beijing’s quiet hutong neighborhoods are about as close as you can come to experiencing what everyday life was like in the city more than 700 years ago.
photo by Yutaka Hirako, Tibet Heritage Fund
Narrow lanes or alleys that traditionally consist of several squat buildings (homes, stores, public restrooms, etc), hutongs are built so closely together that they form a nearly continuous wall, broken only by doorways leading into a residential area or store.
Residences in the hutong are typically courtyard houses (siheyuan), which contain several buildings grouped around one or more open air courtyards. These courtyard homes, which traditionally housed several generations of a single family, functioned as a very private and personal mini “walled city”.
Walking through a hutong instantly puts a visitor inside of that community, as children play and adults chat with their neighbors. On the other hand, sometimes you can feel eerily disconnected here: the lane will be deserted, yet you hear distant sounds of activity going on behind the walls of each building.
Hutongs first became a feature of Beijing’s urban landscape during the Yuan Dynasty (a.k.a. the Mongol Dynasty, 1271-1368), when city planners set very strict requirements for a variety of streets. Over time, as the city grew and went through periods of political upheaval (during the Ming and Qing Dynasties), the codes fell into disuse and the hutongs took on the quaint yet disorderly appearance that defines these neighborhoods today.
Despite their importance to the city’s ancient history, these neighborhoods are rapidly disappearing. Since the 1950s, the government has been razing the areas to put up structures with modern facilities to help the city grow and remain competitive on the global stage.
The recent construction boom surrounding the Summer 2008 Olympics is the most telling example, but the government’s urban planning agenda has also been exacerbated by the fact that hutong houses are often occupied by several poor families with little money or incentive to care for these endangered areas. Many organizations have encouraged the preservation and conservation of these areas, but it’s an overwhelming job that requires educating the government, residents and, even, the ‘restorers’ on the importance of the lanes and the appropriate techniques to repair their ancient buildings.
For the being, at least, there’s still plenty to see. These three areas each have their own charm:
Traditional. Chaodou Hutong is located north of the Imperial City wall and contains some of Beijing’s best preserved hutong structures. This area has also maintained its original grid pattern, dating back to the Yuan dynasty.
Touristy. Zhong Luo Wan Hutong is located near the Drum and Bell towers. Here you’ll find lots of shops and restaurants, and it will be easy to locate a cycle rickshaw to take you around and explore the area.
Modern. Once an industrial area, Fangjia Hutong has recently been revived as contemporary art scene full of activity in its cafes and boutiques. You can tour both the industrial area and the surrounding hutongs in a few hours.
One good book: The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed
Our Readers Comment…