When strolling in the Forbidden City or the Summer Palace, you can't help
imagining the life of the imperial family. While visiting the hutongs in
Beijing, you will gain a greater understanding of the common people as well as
the history of the ancient yet modern Beijing. Hutongs are in fact, alleys or
lanes that exist only in Beijing. The origins of the word 'Hutong' is still
under discussion, but it is generally believed that the word came from the
Mongolian meaning of 'a well', for long ago, when there was a well, there were
also residents nearby.
The hutongs came into existence in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) when
Kublai Khan (first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty) founded Beijing as the capital.
In the residential area, all closed courtyards were built in a neat layout, and
hutongs served the purpose of going around. During that period, hutongs were all
9.3 meters (30.5 feet) in width which let the sunshine in all the year round. In
the later dynasties, small ones were formed within the existing hutongs, as a
result, hutongs now vary in width and length and some even have many
turnings.
The Qianshi Hutong in the Qinamen Area is only 40 centimeters (16 inches)
at its narrowest. This narrowest hutong of Beijing certainly poses a challenge
for a plump man. The Jiudaowan Hutong has more than twenty turnings where even
the locals can get lost, let alone foreigners. Even if you have a very good
sense of directions, you may not well manage without consulting the
signposts.
Most of the hutongs run from the due east to west or from the north to
south, thus forming the neat layout of the city. In order to allow the main
house to get more sunshine, the courtyards lined alongside the hutongs were all
built facing south, so hutongs running east to west are superior in number. But
there are also slanting hutongs which are always overshadowed.
Hutong has become a general name for all the lanes and streets in Beijing.
Recent record shows that there are over 6,000 hutongs and that alleys with a
name of such-and-such Hutong have reached 1,300 or so. The ancient hutong area
takes up most of the urban district where one third of the people living in the
urban area reside. The residents there retain their old way of life and deem
hutongs as their indispensable part of Beijing culture.
During the urban transformation of recent years, some of the ancient
courtyards have been replaced with skyscrapers, and some hutongs subsequently
have now disappeared. Fortunately, a lot of the important hutongs have been
preserved as a cultural relic. A Hutong Tour is now very popular in the
Shichahai area (Xicheng District). Sitting in a pedicab or a boat, you can visit
courtyards of both former aristocrat and local people who are happy to chat to
you about their unique experience of living in Hutongs.