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Ni hao! The Hutongs In Beijing 2010. Zai jian! Peter

Ni hao! The Hutongs In Beijing 2009. Zai jian! Peter

Ni hao!     The Hutongs 2008. I love walking the narrow hutongs of Beijing. History of ancient life in this city. Hutongs (simplified Chinese: 胡同 ; traditional Chinese: 衚衕 ; pinyin: hútòng ; Wade–Giles: hu-t'ung) are a type of narrow streets or alleys, commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, most prominently Beijing.   In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan , traditional courtyard Residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods. Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history. At the turn of the 20th century, the Qing court was disintegrating as Chin...