Beijing Travel Tips

• ATM in Beijing
• Climate & Weather
• International Clinics
• Useful Phone Number
• China Currency
• Communication

Beijing Architecture

• Grand Canal
• Dwelling Compounds Siheyuan
• Beijing Hutong

Beijing Recreation

• Shopping in Beijing
• Clubs & Bars in Beijing
• Beijing Rickshaws

Beijing Transportation

• Beijing Airport
• Bicycle
• Beijing Bus
• Beijing Railway Station
• Beijing Subway
• Beijing Taxi

Culture & Food

• Peking Opera
• Beijing Acrobatics
• Peking Roasted Duck
• Beijing Capital Museum
• Chinese Kungfu
• Liyuan Theatre
• Old Beijing Snacks
• Muslim Cuisine
• Chinese Dumpling - Jiaozi
• Royal Cuisine

Beijing Travel Guide - Architecture

A hutong is a unique form of community existing only in China. The word Hutong comes from Mongolia meaning water well also refers to neighborhoods. The villagers dug a well and inhabited around there and then a community formed. The inhabitants’ houses are Siheyuan (quadrangle). Many communities were formed by joining one Siheyuan to another. The alleys and lanes which consists the Siheyuan are called hutong,

In old China, there was a clear definition for a street or a lane. A 36-meter-wide road was called a big street. An 18-meter-wide one was called a small street. A 9-meter-wide lane was called a hutong. The shortest one is just 10 meters long, and the narrowest hutong is only about 40 centimeters wide. Some hutong have more than 20 turns. Most of the hutongs in Beijing are in east-west or south-north directions. That has resulted from the need for houses to face south so as to take in more sunshine.

Most of hutong in Beijing were built in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (1271-1911). Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutong has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. Many hutong turned into highrise with the development of Beijing.

More recently, some hutong have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history.Those surrounding the Forbidden City and taking Prince Gong's Residence as the center are the best-preserved.Today its lanes and alleys, occupying one third of the city properly, still serve as dwellings for half the total urban population. If Beijing sightseeing at the Forbidden City, Ming Tombs and the Summer Palace is helpful in learning about the lives of China's emperors, the Hutongs of Beijing reflects in turn the lives of ordinary Beijing people. So roaming through Beijing's old, narrow streets, hutong, by old-fashioned pedicab has attracted more and more overseas visitors. If you are fed up with high buildings and wide streets, come to Beijing.

You can find the Beijing hutong tours by clicking the flowing links, if you can not find a tour that you prefer, please contact us at book@sinowaytravel.net

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