Issue 01. December 2013 CHINESE HIDE AND SEEK THE SECREAT SOURCES FOR TRAVELING IN CHINA 胡同 HUTONG CULTURE culture and history HIDDEN HUTONGS beijing famous hutong FOOD, ACTIVITIES AND GIFT GUIDE TIPS FOR HUTONG TRAVEL I 9 SBN 978-1-56581-231-4 781565 812314 52250 CHINESE HIDE & SEEK | ISSUE 01, 2015 26 16 17 THE POTERRY WORKSHOP BOOK TEA CAFE YANDAIXIEJIE Ceramic workshop Open Hour: 2-10pm, Tue-Sun. Address: Yandai Xiejie, Xicheng district, Beijing. Address: 23 Nanluogu Xiang, Dongcheng District, Telephone: 8403 6168 Subway Line: 2 Beijing Address: 4 Maoer Hutong, Dianmenwai Dajie, Dongcheng district Station: Gulou Dajie (preferably exit B), & approxi- mately 12 minutes walk CONTENT 26 HUTONG SPECIAL HIGHLIGHT 1 Hutong sign Mail box Rickshaw HUTONG TRAVEL TIPS 4 4 major tips 5 THE SOUL OF BEIJING Siheyuan (courtyard) WUDAOYING Address: Wudaoying Hutong, Dong Cheng District, Beijing BEIJING HUTONG 7 Beijing Hutong 2 People say that the real culture of Beijing is the culture of the Hutong and Courtyards. How true that is. They attract more tourists from home and abroad than the high-rise buildings and large mansions. HIDDEN FAMOUS HUTONGS 13 Nanluoguxiang Houhai Yandaixiejie Wudaoying Hutong CONNECT 23 Snack BEIJING HUTONG TOUR ON TRICYCLE CAB Activities and Gift guide Address: 4 Maoer Hutong, Dianmenwai Dajie, Dongcheng district. Mail Box for each House SPECIAL HUTONG HIGHLIGHT Hutong sign | Mailbox | Rickshaw | Hutong HUTONG SIGN The Name of Hutong HUTONG SIGN House Number Rickshaw What Is a Hutong The Rickshaw Hutong now means a lane or an alley, formed street, and a 9-meter-wide lane was named a The rickshaw is a traditional vehicle that was pullers will take you through the narrow lanes. Most by rows of siheyuan -a compound with buildings hutong. In fact, Beijing hutongs range from 40 popular in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai nearly a of the rickshaw pullers can give their passengers around a courtyard, where old Beijing residents centimeter to 10 meter wide. The longest has more hundred years ago. Now, modern rickshaw travel is detailed explanations on the history and culture lived. The word "hutong" originates from the word than 20 turns. an excellent way to experience old Beijing culture of Hutongs, though not all can this in English. There "hottog" which means "a well" in Mongolian, in Beijing hutongs are varied: in east-west or north- and Hutongs (alleyways). are also professional tourist guides who can speak ancient times villagers dug a well and then lived south direction, sloped, half or "blind hutongs", or There are thousands of Hutongs in Beijing. The English, Japanese and other foreign languages. around it.It was recorded that during the Yuan cul-de-sacs. rickshaws in Beijing are painted a golden yellow dynasty a 36-meter-wide road was called a color. After paying an agreed fee, the rickshaw standard street, a 18-meter-wide one was a small 1 HIGHTLIGHT CHINESE HIDE & SEEK | ISSUE 01, 2015 2 Bicycle gear HUTONG TRAVEL TIPS 1. Relation of Hutong and Siheyuan. Hutong and Siheyuan are inseparate. In one hand, Hutong refers to the alley formed by two lines of Siheyuan, the Chinese name of old Beijing residences, a kind of courtyard house. In the other hand, Hutong covers a general meaning of the neighborhood consisted by the alleys and Siheyuan buildings alongside. 2. Notice that common people's courtyard houses are different from those ones for tourist purposes. The tourist courtyards are usually the former residences of ancient celebrities, so they are spacious, well designed and beautiful while the common ones living by local people are generally one-room family houses -subdivided and shared by many households, cramped, one-storey Rickshaw Hutong tour with a tiny shed-like kitchen-conversion and often no private toilet, and the living conditions are basic at best. This is why hutong gives a feeling like a village. 3. Hutong's names Like streets, hutongs have their names. Some have had only one name since their establishment and others have had a few names throughout their history. Beijing was once a consumer city. A lot of hutong names are linked to the names of food. Some hutong names are connected to the names of the places, the temples, daily necessities, trades, light industry, plants, people's names and even government's organs. 4. Three good ways to wander around hutong on foot, bicycle, and rickshawpedicab. The famous Hutongs are located in the city center area, and most of the hotels, subway stations nearby offer bike rental service; also you are able to rent a bicycle right in the hutong area. Rickshaw ride around the hutong area has become a popular attraction. The Chinese style must be fresh for you, so very interesting. But remember to find a normal driver who is often certain uniformed and whose vehicle is hanging with a license plate. Nanluoguxiang Hhutong Cafe A corner of Nanluoguxiang Door Number 3 TRAVEL TIPS CHINESE HIDE & SEEK | ISSUE 01, 2015 4 Door of Siheyuan Door of Siheyuan Siheyuan The history of Siheyuan or courtyard house in Beijing can be traced back to more than 800 years ago when Beijing established its status as the capital city. As a kind of traditional Chinese historical object, Siheyuan represents the capital's architectural style. A siheyuan, in Chinese quadrangle, is a symmetrical enclosed rectangular space which takes the courtyard as its centre surrounded by four houses: a main house (typically facing to south), an opposite house, an eastern-wing house and a western-wing house. Siheyuan The siheyuan construction was built with regard to the principles which optimize the sun exposure, while offering a protection against the North winds, the former rules which match up to the location of the Chinese houses.The siheyuan was an outside space No honking sign in Hutong protected from the noise and from the dust of the street, also protected from intruders. It provided a complete intimacy reflecting the sense of intimate lifestyle in the mind of Chinese people always Wall screen keeping the family issues within the family, making business with reliable associates. The way in of the compound of houses is situated on the corner southeast. Before entering a siheyuan, one perceives the wall screen. This wall formerly guaranteed the intimacy when the big door of the main entrance was opened to welcome the visitors. To enter the siheyuan, the visitor had to by-pass the wall by the left. The siheyuan was the small world of the family. Most of the time, there were at least three trees, among which an evergreen, and a tree with flowers, lucky wise producing edible fruits. The siheyuan also contained beautiful stones and some water. There were flowers, and very often big bowls in which goldfish with spherical eyes swam lazily. Birds in a bamboo cage suspended in a shaded place completed the scene. Every siheyuan was separated from the following one by a door, flanked by a pair of stone lions on both sides. Sometimes, one had to reach the internal siheyuan by walking two or three steps organized THE SOUL OF BEIJING to a maximum sun exposure and the Confucian ethics. The size and the greatness of the siheyuan depended on the wealth, status and the number of Siheyuan -courtyard members of the family. Door view of Siheyuan 5 THE SOUL OF BEIJING BEIJING HUTONG Culture | History | Beijing Hutong | Courtyard Culture and History China's capital may be racing towards the future at breakneck speed but sneak behind one of the city's glittering, ultra-modern tower blocks and you find a slice of old Beijing that seems to have been lost in time. Welcome to the hutong; centuries-old, tree-lined alleyways that are the true heartbeat of this unique city and a real-life link to its fascinating past. 7 CHINESE HIDE & SEEK | ISSUE 01, 2015 “People say that the real culture of Beijing is the culture of the Hutong and Courtyards.” How true that is. They attract more tourists from now no more than 1,000 remain. Thus, protecting home and abroad than the high-rise buildings and them is an urgent problem for modern people. large mansions. The lanes have their own layout and structure, and Hutong is a Mongolian word meaning water well. when viewed from the air the combination of the At nine meters about 30 feet wide, it is the name lanes and courtyards resemble a chessboard with given to a lane or small street that originated delicate gardens, fine rockeries and ancient ruins during the Yuan Dynasty 1271to1368. Now they this makes them a wonder in the world. Because have become representatives of Beijings culture, of the cross interlacement of the lanes every thus it is the first choice for people who would houses connected to the other, making it easy for like to learn about the local history and culture.In local people to keep in touch with their neighbors. the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolians attached great Therefore, once one enters any of the lanes, one importance to water, so almost every community can feel the deep and warm relationships among in the city was designed around a well, which people, which is rarely found in this modern world. provided the daily water for the locals. Until now, In the twisted lanes one can experience the life one can still find dry wells in Hutongs. of the ancient Beijing people. The bathrooms and In the past, Beijing was composed of hundreds of public toilets can be found in these lanes. Shops sell courtyards around the forbidden city, and these all kinds of goods that satisfy the local people's lanes stretched out in all four directions, connecting daily needs.