Hutong's

Dear travel-friends,

on my map I see - next to the hotels of Holiday Inn, Novotel and Grand Hyatt - streets that are called hutong%26#39;s.

Names are : Lishi Hutong, Ganmian Hutong, Xizongbu Hutong, Zhugan Hutong, Dafangjia Hutong.

Are these ';real, original'; hutong%26#39;s, on walking distance of the hotels??

Or are the ';real, original'; hutong%26#39;s elsewhere in Beijing, if so, where ??

Thanks a lot !!

Otto-Maria.

Hutong's

the realk,original and best hutongs are near the Shisha Lake or called Black Lake area.

Hutong's

';Shisha Lake or called Black Lake area.';

Should be Shicha Hai or Back lake (Houhai) area, rather than ';Black lake';.

If you are interested in visiting some Hutong, yes, houhai area is a good choice, a lot western travel go there to see the all buildding. Some pics of Hutong and houhai area: adventurechinatrip.com/bbs/forum_posts.asp… and adventurechinatrip.com/bbs/forum_posts.asp…

Other areas that maybe suitable for visiting old hutong, I think, Guozijian or some south parts of beijing still have some old ones.

The hutongs near the hotel won%26#39;t have much of the feel of old Beijing anymore, as the old buildings are long gone, replaced by hotels, shops, and restaurants.

As noted, the shichahia area is the most obvious area to go see hutongs with old homes.

Hutongs are in many areas in Beijing. Some are little more sanitised than others. Hutong is just another word for street. It doesn%26#39;t signify that normal people are living there.

Hello,

thank for the info.

Just thought that Hutongs were like %26#39;garden-homes%26#39; or %26#39;court-homes%26#39;, like all these %26#39;hofjes%26#39; in Amsterdam, Delft, Leiden and all the other Dutch old historic cities.

Some examples you can see here:

audioguides.nl/uk/leiden/hofjes/aalmoeshuis

So, an exclosed area, with an entrance, where %26#39;same sort of people%26#39;(in former days) lived together, like in a cloister.

Thanks anyway,

Otto-Maria

Hutongs are everywhere in Beijing. In fact, the moment I stepped down from the airport bus to go to my hotel (Zhong An) west of the railway station, I realised I was walking through hutongs where the hotel is located. I walked a lot during my stay at Beijing to get from one place to another but often got lost in hutongs since they are narrow and look pretty much alike from whatever direction you go. The good thing about hutong is that one gets to see what life is about before the era of the modern jungle.

As I understand right, these ';most original'; hutongs are (as printed on my map) around Xihai-lake, Houhai-lake and Qianhai-lake ?

Someone can confirm this ?

B.t.w. does %26#39;hai%26#39; mean %26#39;lake%26#39; ?

Thanks, Otto-Maria

';Hai'; actually means ';sea';, but it would stand for ';lake'; in this situation.

The hutongs around Houhai include more Qing dynasty-era buildings than some of the other hutongs in the city, though there are pockets of old homes here and there. The homes in this area would have belonged to officials for the imperial court.