The Hutongs of Beijing: A Stroll Through the Past

Beijing is a fascinating city with so many exciting things to do and see, such as the Forbidden City and Great Wall. The Chinese capital is also a city that is rapidly Westernizing. It is still possible, however, to find glimpses of the old Beijing that fulfills most people's preconceived notions of China.

Just head over to the hutongs around the Drum Tower in the Gulou area. Hutongs, or narrow alleyways around traditional gray brick homes, are giving way to high rise apartment buildings and wide streets throughout the city. The Gulou area, however, is one the municipal government is trying to leave intact for tourists to experience.

Spend a morning, or better yet, a day, just wandering through the hutongs, which are bounded by Second Ring Road on the north and Guloudongdajie (East Gulou Street) on the south. Don’t worry about getting lost as you walk through the narrow lanes. If you walk far enough in any direction, you’ll soon come across a major street with buses and taxis to take you to your next destination.

Almost every home in the hutongs is marked with a wooden door painted red; some have Chinese New Year’s posters glued to them. Several families may live in apartments behind one red door. If the door is open, feel free to look inside to see bicycles and plants lining the walkways, but don’t step over the stoop without an invitation. That’s considered an invasion of privacy.

As you wander through the hutongs, you’ll come across small shops selling necessities of daily life and restaurants with only a few tables. These probably won’t have any menus in English; non-Chinese speakers can order by pointing to dishes other diners are having. The dishes served at these small eateries will be prepared traditional style and not sanitized for Western palates as meals in major hotel restaurants are.

Snack food junkies will want to hit the hutongs early in the morning, preferably no later than 7 a.m. That’s because some foods, such as youtiao, are served only in the morning. Youtiao is made by doubling a narrow length of bread dough, braiding it into a stick and then deep-frying it in a huge cast iron wok. Greasy, but absolutely delicious fresh out of the wok.

Mornings are also a good time to eat congee (bean porridge) and steamed bread. Add a few jiaozi (dumplings/pot stickers) and you have a typical Chinese breakfast.

Morning is a good time to visit the hutongs, especially in the summer. Most hutong homes don’t have toilets, with residents using a communal toilet down the street. These can get pretty smelly in the summer. Since these are public toilets, tourists with a need can use them, but they’ll need to have their own toilet paper.

The Drum Tower is the main tourist attraction in the area; the Bell Tower is behind it. Walk straight west from there, through some renovated hutongs, to the Soong Ching Ling House, located along Houhai Lake. Visitors who have fought the crowds at the Forbidden City will appreciate the feeling of peace and serenity her compound provides. Soong Ching Ling was the widow of Sun Yat-Sen and is known as the “mother of China.”

End your day in the hutongs by strolling south along the lakes, stopping at sidewalk cafes and coffee bars for refreshments, as you prepare to re-enter a modern Beijing.

Kevin Caldwell wrote this article on behalf of BricktownOKCHotels.com who help travelers find hotels based on their location from Bricktown.