Beijing Hutongs - Part 3.

Above: A man washing his MoTi in HuFangQiao hutong area. But there was much more. Photo gallery below.


Old Beijing Hutongs Facing Torn Down
PICTORIAL - Beijingers Cherish The Hutong Culture

Sunday 30th December I went scouting hutongs with group of Beijingers, to record old hutong culture. We met at HuFangQiao road near famous fish head restaurant TanYuTou, south from TianAnMen Square. We were a group of ten, I was the only foreigner.

We walked into HuFangQiao hutong area. It is not small. Hutongs there are very much alive. Long ago each family used to have their own space, a courtyard with trees and birds. Now those courtyards are shared by several families and filled with small additional rooms for living.

Some hutong buildings have two floors. They are former whore houses, HuFangQiao hutong area is famous about them. Whore houses were closed after revolution in 1949 and those houses and rooms became ordinary homes.

HuTong streets are usually north-south. Crossing streets linking hutong streets are named JiaDao or XieJien. We went through these and many other:

Han Jia HuTong, Da Bai Shun HuTong
Bai Shun HuTong, Shi Tou HuTong
Pei Ying HuTong
Zhu Mao HuTong
Xiao Chun Shu HuTong
Zhu Jia HuTong
Yuan Xing JiaDao, Qing Feng JiaDao
Zong Shu XieJien
Left: Hutong Group badge

During four hours I took pictures of hutong streets, doors, and inner yard of the home of famous Peking Opera star 100 year ago. We scouted five former hutong whore houses. They still had sweet wood decorations inside. And local knowledge, I learned about hierarchy as back then those hutong whore houses were classified from Class-1 to Class-4.

It's winter, weather was sunny but windy and freezing cold. I got 220 pictures until Canon's battery exhausted. Interesting day!


-- BeijingMan

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All pictures taken on Sunday, December 30th 2007 in Beijing. I used Canon 20D with EF-S 10-22mm and zoom.


Above-1: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-2: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-3: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-4: Beijing Hutongs. Old woman at door.


Above-5: Beijing Hutongs.
This sign was above the door in previous picture.


Above-6: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-7: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-8: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.


Above-9: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.


Above-10: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.


Above-11: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.


Above-12: Beijing Hutongs. Old hutong whore house (No.1)
100 years ago this hutong area was famous for its two-floor whore houses. Back then whore houses were classified from Class-1 to Class-4, this was probably Class-2. That business stopped here in 1950, right after the revolution. Today these houses and rooms are hutong homes.


Above-13: Beijing Hutongs. Old hutong whore house (No.1)


Above-14: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.1)
Mid-right, some sausages hanging.


Above-15: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.1)


Above-16: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.1)


Above-17: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.1)
Modernized with green tubes for water and heating.


Above-18: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.1)


Above-19: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.1)


Above-20: Beijing Hutongs. Old hutong whore house (No.1)


Above-21: Beijing Hutongs. Old hutong whore house (No.2)


Above-22: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.2)


Above-23: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.2)


Above-24: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.2). Red wood decorations. This probably was a Class-2 whore house.


Above-25: Beijing Hutongs. Old hutong whore houses (No.1 and No.2) are those higher buildings.


Above-26: Beijing Hutongs. Streets.
Right: 2-floor buildings are whore houses (No.1 and No.2)
Left: Lei Feng poster on the wall.


Above-27: Beijing Hutongs. Poster, Comrade Lei Feng.
Legend of Lei Feng is, that he did secretly good things to other people, fixed a flat bicycle tire etc.


Above-28: Beijing Hutongs. Poster, Comrade Lei Feng.
Chairman Mao ZeDong once said: Learn from Comrade Lei Feng


Above-29: Beijing Hutongs.
He lives in this hutong area.


Above-30: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-31: Beijing Hutongs. Police Workstation.


Above-32: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-33: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-34: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-35: Beijing Hutongs.
Hutong hamburgers are called XiaBing, a round bread, fried and filled with meat, 0.3EUR, not bad. Yes You Dare!


Above-36: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-37: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-38: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.
100 years ago this was home of a Peking Opera star (not Mei LangFang, he lived in Huguo Si area). Those times actors were not much valued by society.


Above-39: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-40: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-41: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-42: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.
100 years ago this was the home of a Peking Opera star.


Above-43: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-44: Beijing Hutongs. Old hutong whore house (No.3)


Above-45: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.3)


Above-46: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.3). Green wood decorations.


Above-47: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.3)


Above-48: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-49: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-50: Beijing Hutongs. Old hutong whore house (No.4)
Electricity meters. Converted to homes 70 years ago.


Above-51: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.4)


Above-52: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.4)


Above-53: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.4)


Above-54: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.4)


Above-55: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.4)


Above-56: Beijing Hutongs. Inside old hutong whore house (No.4)
We scouted five former hutong whore houses, all closed in 1950.


Above-57: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-58: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-59: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-60: Beijing Hutongs. Roof view.


Above-61: Beijing Hutongs. Roof view.


Above-62: Beijing Hutongs. Inside an ordinary hutong house.


Above-63: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-64: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-65: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-66: Beijing Hutongs.


Above-67: Beijing Hutongs.
Different types of gray roof tiles tell about use and status of the house and its people.


Above-68: Beijing Hutongs.
Blue sign on top of door: house and courtyard are protected by law.
Top part of pillars have decoration. From many door pillars the decorations had been stolen away.


Above-69: Beijing Hutongs.
Blue sign on top of door: This house and courtyard are protected by law.


Above-70: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.


Above-71: Beijing Hutongs. Inside a courtyard.
In the middle of Beijing, but very silent.


Above-72: Beijing Hutongs.
Square side stones referred to books, telling about interest and profession of the person living here.


Above-73: Beijing Hutongs.
Round side stones referred to drums, telling that home owner might be a military man. Four red woods on top of door had characters attached onto them.


Above-74: Beijing Hutongs.
Man and his monkey. Powered by 10RMB, about 1EUR he advised his monkey to make us 8 voltings.


Old Beijing Hutongs - The Hutong Culture
+ Interesting view into old Beijing way of life
+ Some hutong areas are not small, fun to get lost while still inside city
+ Met some hutong people: friendly and naturally curious

***** GOOD TARGET FOR PHOTOS OR GETTING LOST *****

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© BeijingMan 2022