The Hutongs of Beijing

Peking have lots of hutongs,when I was a child.My grandmother’s house was in a hutong, this hutong is very nerrow,and grandmother’s house is very small but I remembered there had a lot of fun. there had a little place between my grandmother’s house and her neighbor(they were lived in one yard).but on this little land there had lots of plants. Most were jasmine, they had lots of colors ,like red,white,pink,yellow… they were so beautiful,and there also had a big honeysuckle tree.when summer come ,lots of yellow and white honeysuckle flowers were blooming,and the flower also can pick as tea for drink.This little yard record my happiest time in my childhood.
every hutong has a special name,every name may also has a intereting history,and some of them have used hundreds of years, hutong is peking’s special culture,They record this centuries-old city’s development and story.

There’s a great sesame bun stand in a hutong near Beihei/Houhai. We had to wait in line for about half an hour because people kept on buying them in several dozen quantities.

I disagree about the advice given below. You should definitely go on a tour when you are in a hutong. Hutongs are residential neighborhoods, and they are not the best places to go strolling around by yourself or to go alone with another person.

I wouldn’t recommend going with a big tour, however. I went with one other person in a carriage hitched to the back of a bike. That was ideal. Then you have a local tour guide who can show you around, but at the same time you are not with a bunch of awkward people just swinging around their cameras.

If the tour guide knows someone in the area they might even invite you in for tea! We went in to have tea with this little old lady. She was really nice. She even invited us to play mah johng with her!

The first time I went to the hutongs, I went on a tour. I didn’t like that. It was like there was this big swarm of American students buzzing around people’s homes and people’s lives, and the residents weren’t unfriendly, but you could tell they didn’t like it much, either.

The second time I went, I went by myself. Then, the people were much friendlier. They can see you as a person, and not just as one of those annoying tourists who just wants to look at “old Beijing,” and someone who just looks at the buildings and alleys and doesn’t think about the people inside. If you go alone, I think it’s much easier to see yourself living there, and to me, the best kind of travelling is the kind where you can picture yourself living there along with everyone else.