Above: I went scouting a hutong area near TianAnMen Square. This man lives there, he has old Beijing lifestyle. Photo gallery below.Old Beijing Hutongs Facing Torn Down
PICTORIAL - Beijingers Cherish The Hutong Culture
I joined a group of beijingers who want to record old hutong culture. Sunday 16th December our small group went scouting again.
We met at southern part of TianAnMen Square near QianMen Gate and JianLou Arrow Tower which goes back 600 years as Front Gate to Forbidden City.
We walked into hutong area nearby. Many buildings there have two, even three floors, they are probably from Qing Dynasty era, the latest dynasty. Part of this hutong area was already smashed down.
Hutong names often have a story behind which means they are not simple to translate. These hutongs looked active in this hutong area:
Da Qi Jia HuTong, Wang Pi HuTong
Cai Jia HuTong, Shi Jia HuTong
Zhang Shan HuTong, Yun Ju HuTong
Gan Jing HuTong
Left: Hutong group's badge
Weather was sunny, not cold, we had good time. During four hours I took pictures on hutong roof tops and of streets, doors, corridors, inner yards, smashed structures, hutong cats and people. I got over 200 pictures.
BeijingMan aka Kippo
List of all BeijingMan Postings
______________________________
Pictures in this post are all taken on Sunday, December 16th 2007 in Beijing, just beside TianAnMen Square. I used Canon 20D with EF-S 10-22mm and 70-200mm F2.8 IS zoom. Click to enlarge.
Above-1: Beijing Hutongs - Rooftop view.
Above-2: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-3: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-4: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-5: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-6: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-7: Beijing Hutongs - 3 floors.
Above-8: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-9: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-10: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-11: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-12: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-13: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-14: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-15: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-16: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-17: Beijing Hutongs - Twin towers.
Above-18: Beijing Hutongs - Pigeon holes.
Above-19: Beijing Hutongs - Restaurant street.
Above-20: Beijing Hutongs - Public hotlines!
Above-21: Beijing Hutongs - Backstreet.
Above-22: Beijing Hutongs - Games.
Red text is an advertisement: carving services inside.
Above-23: Beijing Hutongs - Electricity meters.
Above-24: Beijing Hutongs - Extension room added into courtyard.
Above-25: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-26: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-27: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-28: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-29: Beijing Hutongs - Coal for cooking and heating.
Above-30: Beijing Hutongs - Coal for cooking and heating.
Above-31: Beijing Hutongs - Toilet, probably not public.
Above-32: Beijing Hutongs - Inside hutong it is surprisingly silent.
Above-33: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-34: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-35: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-36: Beijing Hutongs.
Box is for popular Beijing Youth Daily - Beijing QingNianBao.
Notice is about coal usage for heating, risks and how to avoid.
Above-37: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-38: Beijing Hutongs.
Above-39: Beijing Hutongs.
Many doors have carved side stones. Metals on doors allow kick opening.
Above-40: Beijing Hutongs.
This hutong is a narrow road through, like most hutongs in this area.
Above-41: Beijing Hutongs - Rooftop view.
- Hmmm, one day local Beatles could play over here...
Above-42: Beijing Hutongs - Rooftop view.
Above-43: Beijing Hutongs - Rooftop view.
Above-44: Beijing Hutongs - Rooftop view.
Above-45: Beijing Hutongs.
- Colors, is this an embassy or something:)
Above-46: Beijing Hutongs - Low price hotel.
Above-47: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Headless and legless plastic torsos! Maybe this was a fashion shop.
Above-48: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Above-49: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Above-50: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Above-51: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Above-52: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Big brick in the middle is from original Beijing City Wall, ChengQiang which was torn down 50-60 years ago. Brick had marking of old maker. Much of Beijing City Wall became building material for hutongs. City Wall used to go round at today's Ring-2 position.
Above-53: Beijing Hutongs - Structure.
Above-54: Beijing Hutongs - Structure. Wood mainframe and bricks.
Above-55: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Above-56: Beijing Hutongs - Torn down.
Above-57: Beijing Hutongs - Cats.
Above-58: Beijing Hutongs - Cats. Strong, not small.
Above-59: Beijing Hutongs - Cats.
Above-60: Beijing Hutongs - Cats.
Above-61: Beijing Hutongs - Cats.
Above-62: Beijing Hutongs - Street.
Above-63: Beijing Hutongs - Hutong people at main road side.
Above-64: Over there, another hutong area.
Old Beijing Hutongs - The Hutong Culture
+ Interesting views into old Beijing way of life
+ Some hutongs are big, can get lost but be still inside city
***** GOOD TARGET FOR HALF or FULL DAY PHOTO SAFARI *****
_________________________________
© BeijingMan aka Kippo 2008, 2009, 2010
0 comments:
Post a Comment