Beijing's Disappearing Hutongs and Hutong Way of Life-The "Alleys."

Beijins's Disappearing Hutongs and Hutong Way of Life-The "Alleys."

It is no exaggeration to say that Beijing's hutongs and the hutong way of life are disappearing parts of the world's culture so we felt that it was so important to document the precise location of the hutongs that we photographed. For us that realization came a day late. We didn't begin photographing the names until our second day. In some cases the location can only be approximated. The hutongs are famous for being officially unnamed so all one can do is document the nearest sign. We walked up and down some charming hutongs looking in vain for a name. Then too, some ways designated as hutongs are more the width and character of streets, and vice versa.

In this photograph "jie" means street. The photo below is a sure-enough hutong. Thiscould be a case of jie-ing when one should have hutong-ed or being the closest way name there was.