Hutongs

This feels like the real deal.  It’s drizzling and I’m finally out.  In China.  The real China.  Old certainly meets new here in the Hutongs (narrow street) district where neon sits beside buildings which are hundreds of years old and now protected as the old town historic district.  This area is an amazing maze of leafy narrow alleyways. It’s hard to imagine what life was like when this was the norm for living. Now many have been razed to make way for skyscrapers and a more modern China and few remain. Even of those that do, many have been rebuilt or renovated. Although the main street (Nanluogu Xiang) is heaving, filled with people, souvenir and snack shops, the buildings are beautiful and I can sense the history of this place.  

I recall this was my first choice for accommodation in Beijing.  I had wanted to stay in one of the charming old courtyard homes and while I realise now that it would have been incredible, it wouldn’t have suited our needs this time round with the boys in tow.  I’m slightly envious of all the food choices that would (could!) have been at my doorstep though and the sheer excitement of it.   It is nudging lunchtime though and we look for somewhere  to sit down, not feeling like walking with our meal.  We choose a spot with a roof top terrace and are seated and presented with a menu to peruse.  I laugh at my husband’s sheer horror when we go through the menu.  I can’t tell how much is lost in translation from the pictures but we give the “Xiangxi kill pig food” and the “signature chicken feet” a miss just in case and thoroughly enjoy our late lunch of Kung Pao chicken with rice and a Tsingtao.  I secretly wonder what is really in the food but the lovely roof top views of the Hutongs make the experience exceedingly enjoyable and I put all thought of offal aside.  

Fortified for now I’m keen to walk and explore.

The main Hutong (street/alleyway) is South Luogu Alley which stretches from the Gulou East St in the north to the Di’anmen East St in the south.  This 786m long and 8m wide lane was originally built around 1267, the same time as the construction of Yuan Da Du, the capital of the Yuan dynasty.  It served primarily as a market area in the capital’s urban layout with imperial government buildings backed by the market area and flanked by the imperial ancestral temple and the sacrificial altar on either side.

The alleyway (or lane way) was called “Luoguo” or “Hunchback” Lane during the Ming Dynasty due to the feature of the middle part being higher than both ends.  At one time it was also named “Wugong” or “Centipede” Lane due to the architectural layout of the area with the concept of residential blocks, the lane serving as the axis dividing 8 parallel lanes (hutongs) on each side, forming the pattern of a centipede or fish skeleton.

This area of Hutongs on and surrounding South Luogu Lane is now the only remaining traditional residential area in China that still fully preserves the chess-board style layout of Hutongs typically found in the Yuan Dynasty, with its scale, quality and historical value said to be unmatched by any others like it.

South Luogu Lane was among the first of 25 areas listed for historical preservation by the Beijing Municipal government in 1990 and is currently one of the most impressive historical and cultural tourism areas as well as being an area nurturing cultural creativity and art in the ancient capital of Beijing.

One of the cross streets, Shajing Hutong in particular, has an interesting mix of history and current use.  Originally this hutong was called Shajia Hutong and was a hub of industry and trade during the Ming Dynasty.

Later, during the Qing Dynasty it served as the headquarters for the Bordered Yellow Banner – a unit of the Manchurian military.  Running east-west and intersected by South Luogu Lane it is approximately 294m long and 6m wide.  Numbers 15, 17 & 19 are of particular interest as they served as the residence of the minister of the Imperial Household Department during the Qing Dynasty.

Today No. 24 serves as the Shijia Hutong Museum (24 Shi Ja Hu Tong, Dongcheng District), the first museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Hutongs as well as being a fine historical example in its own right.

Facade of a restaurant in the Hutongs

I’m a bit obsessed with doors and there are lots of fine examples here.  To me they are both beautiful and mysterious in what the open to and what they protect.  A world of history and also possibilities seem to lie behind these ones.

Another feature that strikes me, this one being not so appealing, is the hodge podge of electrical wiring here.  Although the sight of exposed electrical wiring is not an uncommon sight around the city, the tangle of wires around here is something the like of which I have never seen before.  While I understand the necessity and can marvel at the sheer volume, I can’t help but feel that it detracts from the historical authenticity of the area.  Not that the neon signs and other kitch things they power exactly add to the authenticity….

We’ve explored quite a number of the streets, ducking and weaving up and down each time coming back to the bustling South Luogu Lane only to turn off into another quieter alleyway to find ‘real life’ happening behind the scenes- deliveries being made, paving being dug and re-laid, men drinking coffee together in the street, ladies shelling peas in a courtyard and people sweeping their doorsteps.

It’s drizzling again and we find a nice bar to sit for a late afternoon drink and I can’t resist a small plate of plump little dumplings to go with it.

I try to soak it all in, the buildings, the sights, the language, the street scenes, people and smells (good and bad!).  It’s all so colourful and exciting, even the brooms are exquisite, made from long sticks, some of them beautifully blooming branches, strung together and piled up on a wagon.

It’s starting to get dark. We’ve all been sick and I think I’m a still a bit jet lagged but I smile to myself as we hail one of the plentiful taxis, the next 6 weeks of our China adventure are going to be incredible.