Last Friday, I went on a tour. A friend of a friend sent me some information about the
As an architect, since our arrival, I have been trying to know more about the hutongs. The CCC was promising an intimate type of tour. So I registered, and by a windy 6 degrees, went on to meet the guide. That's probably how I got the cold I still have today.
The hutongs are the small residential alleys of Beijing, in general 6 steps wide (or about a wee bit more than a car width).
They are the most "endangered" areas of the city, specially since the Olympian construction (and demolition frenzy) that has been occurring over the last decade. When in architecture school, a few of my colleagues came to Beijing to study and research these areas, most of which have probably disappeared by now. We tend to use the term hutong
胡同 to refer to the houses found in the small alleys called hutongs, but in fact the houses have a specific name, a si-he-yuan, a name that makes reference to their
layout; litterally it means a courtyard surrounded by four buildings. Originally the buildings would house a single extended family, with each of the building serving a specific function. The nobility's would paint their doors in red, some others in green or blue. Everything about the siheyuang is codified (you can read more about this
here). But the courtyard layout is not only used by the nobility.
We visited the Xuanwu district area, just sound to Tienanmen Place, a area still inhabited today by the common Beijinger, with most of the courtyards shared by several families. Today this area is protected and still maintained an authentic feel. The alleys are winding between the regular patterns of the houses, their dull grey walls of bricks punctuated by openings giving the passer-by a glimpse of the life occurring behind them. Once in a while, a shop or a small eatery brings life to the neighbourhood.
Hutong living means a quiet and private life with a comfortable private outdoor space. Only a few cars drive through the alleys, the hustle and bustle of the city is far away. The life of the hutong inhabitants resemble more the one of the villager, with the proximity of small services, and everybody knowing each other. The downside of hutong living (apart maybe from the fact that your neighbour knows about your whereabouts) is the lack of latrines. Even if they were electrified more than 50 years ago, and that all have tap water for decades, today most houses still are without toilets. This was used by the government as a reason to "erase" entire neighbourhoods, in an attempt to solve the sanitation and overcrowding problem. Most have been replaced by modern appartement buildings. Of 6000 hutongs 5 years ago, about 1000 are left today. It is unfortunate, specially since there are exemple in Beijing and other part of the world of upgradings of such areas to sanitary standards.
We took some pedicabs to get around the maze of lanes and stopped at a kindergarten, which was architecturally a good example of a siheyuang complex, with 3 courtyards. We also incidentally were able to witness the exemplary disciple of these toddlers. I can't imagine such disciplined play in a Canadian, American or Israeli kindergarten.
The buildings housing the kindergarten need a bit of maintenance, but we can easily imagine a wealthy family living there. The courtyards are connected by small exterior corridors, leaving each exterior space a certain privacy from the others, and each building is completely independant from each others, requiring a coat to go from one building to another. With its trees and weathered columns and walls, the exterior spaces express not only the marks of 400 years of history but also the rigidity of the social order that organized the Chinese family. In such complex, the unmarried daughters lived in the most secluded buildings of the siheyuang, behind the main building, away from the eye of the visitors. No worries, nowadays such practice is obsolete.
We visited then the house of a old lady, Minsi, who has been living in one building of a siheyuang for the last 50 years. She raised her two children in a house about 4 meters by 8. When given the opportunity to join them in their modern apartments, she refused, preferring the convivial life of the hutong, where she knows everybody and feels at home. She lived in a house provided by her former employer, the government, as well as her neighbours. She pays 300 Yuan (less than 50$) per month. The house is lined with large pipes, heated with a small coal heather. The courtyard is lined with an aesthetic pile of lotus shaped coal bars.
We ended our tour around the market of Liulichang street, where we were able to browse for some (real of fake) antiques before heading back by pedicab.
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