Beijing Hutong(Alleyway)

Contents 1 Brief Introduction The History 2 3 The Details 4 The Modern Condition 4

1.Brief Introuduction According to experts, the word Hutong originated from Mongolian language meaning ‘Well’. In ancient times, people tended to gather and live around wells. So the original meaning of Hutong should be ‘a place where people gather and live.’

1.Brief Introuduction Another explanation says that during the Yuan Dynasty, about 13th century, residential areas in the city were divided into many divisions. Between the smaller divisions were passageways for people to travel through. Hutong first appeared in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty.

2.The history of the Hutong In the year 1271, Kubla Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, founded Yuan Dynasty and set Beijing as the capital city in the following year. Unfortunately, the old city was completely destroyed during the war. So they had to rebuild it. In old China, all the structures and roads were required to be symmetrical. So the city was like a chessboard.

2.The history of the Hutong At the time, there was a clear definition for avenue, street and Hutong. A 37- metre-wide road was called an avenue, an 18-metre- wide one was called a street, and a 9-metre-wide lane was called a Hutong.

3.The details of the Hutong Today we can find various Hutongs with different shapes, lengths or directions.The shortest one is only 40 centimeters wide, And some Hutongs have more than 20 turns.With the growth of the population, many old Hutongs have disappeared to make way for high-rise apartments.

3.The details of the Hutong In the hutong, most of them look almost the same with gray- colored walls and bricks. Actually inside those walls are the courtyard houses, where people live. In Chinese we call them ‘siheyuan’. So a rectangular wall enclosing four houses, one built on each side facing into the center, When they were first built, usually one Siheyuan was owned by only one family, but nowadays, with the growth of the population, most Siheyuans are shared by 4 to 10 families. 在胡同中会发现几乎所有 的墙和砖都是灰色的。其 实，在这些墙的后面就是 居民的家，我们称其为“ 四合院”。也就是一个长 方形的围墙围着四间屋子 ，每间屋子的门朝着院子 中间。过去，一个四合院 只属于一个家庭，而现在 随着人口的增长，大多数 四合院住四至十户人家。

3.The details of the Hutong The gate building of each Siheyuan is the only thing that we can see along the Hutongs. Chinese people used to try to protect their privacy from being intruded by strangers. So the gate building, was a symbol to show the position of each house owner.

4.The modern condition In old times, transportation was not as convenient as today, so street vendors played a very important role in Hutong life. They wandered from lane to lane selling various goods or providing all kind of services. People could judge the goods or services from their peddling or the sounds of their special instruments.

The culture of the Hutong The main attraction of Hutong life is friendly and interpersonal communication. Children living in one courtyard play together and grow up together like one big family. So now our government is trying to protect such Hutong area in Beijing. Without permission,nobody is allowed to tear down old houses to build high-rise apartments. We want to save it as a treasure to show our later generations what Beijing used to be like.

Beijing Hutong 1.南锣鼓巷: NanluoGuXiang 2.烟袋斜街:Yandaixiejie 3.帽儿胡同:Maoerhutong 4.国子监街:Guozijianstreet 5.琉璃厂:Glass street 6.金鱼胡同:Goldfish alley 7.东交民巷:Dongjiaominxiang 8.西交民巷:Xijiaominxiang 9.菊儿胡同:JuerHutong 10.八大胡同:Badahutong

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