| Beijing Old Hutong  Description
"Hutong" is a kind of ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where the number of
hutongs may run into several thousand. Surrounding the Forbidden City, many were
built during the Yuan(1206-1341), Ming(1368-1628) and Qing(1644-1908) dynasties.
There have been two kinds of hutong. One kind usually referred to as the regular
hutong, was centered closely to the east and west of the palace. Another kind, the
simple and crude hutong, was mostly far located to the north and south of the palace. The main buildings in the hutong were almost all "quadrangles" - a kind of enclosure of
buildings complex formed by four houses standing on the four sides. The quadrangles
varied in size and design with the social status of the residents. The big quadrangles of
the high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants were specially built with a front yard
and a back yard. However, the ordinary people's quadrangles were simply built with low
houses. Hutongs, in fact, are passageways formed by many closely arranged
quadrangles. The specially built quadrangles all face to the south for better lighting;
as a result, a lot of hutongs run from east to west. Therefore, the city of Beijing is
like a magnified quadrangle, symmetrically arranged and surrounded rectangularly by
high walls. Hutong tour helps you understand the history and culture of Beijing and to plug into
the 700-year-old narrow steers to visit the old quadrangles by the old fashioned
pedicab and to learn about the daily life of ordinary Beijing Residents. During the tour,
you could visit Prince Gong's Residence and Drum Tower. Originally built in 1273 to mark the center of the Mongol capital of Dadu, Drum Tower
has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The drums were once beaten to mark the
hours of the day. Today, only one original instrument remains. The drum-beating
performances are worth the steep 69-step climb to the top. Inclusions
－Rickshaw tour
－Courtyard and local family
－Prince Gong's Residence
－Drum Tower, Water Lily Market, Smoke-bag Slanting Street
－Private car or mini van transfers
－Professional English-speaking private tour guide |
