Rickshaw Ride and Hutong Tour on Our Last Night in Beijing!

A typical entrance to a siheyuan in a Beijing hutong - note the decorations by the door. This hutong has 2 posts over the doorway meaning the owners were kind of important. Also, note the small pillars on either side of the doorway, these show the importance of the owner also...Some hutongs have 5 posts over the door, and lions that sit atop the pillars! one more important thing:the little beam that runs across the bottom, this is for good luck: keeping the evil spirits out! Men must enter with their left leg, women with their right!

Our group with Mr. Wong in his hutong

Ok, It was a bit chilly for a rickshaw ride, but I am SO glad we went! This historic tour is up there with The Great Wall for me. For those that don't know what a hutong is, it is like the very first "gated community!" The hutongs are 500 year old residential neighborhoods in the heart of Old Beijing.There are only 25% of these "neighborhoods" left, as many many have been torn down. 6 million people live in the hutongs!!!!  They are formed by narrow streets with each hutong sharing a courtyard, restroom/bathhouse and kitchen/dining area.  We rode in a rickshaw (see video)  to visit their neighborhoods.When you are on the bust city streets, you don't even know these exist! They are tucked into the alleys of shops. Hutongs represent an important culture element of Beijing city.  Once upon a time only the wealthy lived in a hutong, but over time, anyone could live there. The one we visited, has been owned by Mr. Wong's family for 5 generations! He was very proud of this and he proudly served us tea and crackers. Their living room was about 6 foot by 9 foot. We are pictured in it. They have 1 separate bedroom, but basically, this is it!! I cannot imagine living in such a small space. They also raised a daughter in this space. When asked where his wife was, he told us she needs to get out of the house, so she works part-time (I think I would too, its soooooo tiny!) 

These hutongs are on the "endangered list" in Beijing and have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history