Hutong in Beijing

April 16, 2012

Today we are leaving Beijing.  First we will go to see a hutong which is a traditional alley neighborhood.   There used to be over 10,000 hutongs in Beijing.  They tore the hutongs down to build tall apartment buildings.  Now the Chinese government is trying to save some of the hutongs for historical buildings.

When we got to the hutong area we saw lots of rickshaws. A rickshaw is a little cart pulled by a man riding a bicycle.

 

We rode through the streets and looked at the houses.  I rode in a rickshaw with David.

While we were in the hutong we visited the house of Mr. Jang.  He had a cute little dog.

Mr. Jang told a translator about his house and the translator told us what he said in English.  His house was 300 years old.  His family had lived in the house for hundreds of years. Mr. Jang was born in the house and still lives there.  Mr. Jang was retired but he was an artist that painted pictures.

The house had small rooms.  The kitchen and bedroom were tiny.

 

Mr. Jang said that today, a hutong house is very expensive but he would not sell his because he would not break the tradition of his family to live in the house.