Beijing - Beijing - page 434

ORIGINS
Hútòng first appeared in Běijīng in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), in the wake of Genghis
Khan's army. With the city, then known as Zhōngdū, reduced to rubble, it was redesigned
with hútòng running east-west. At first, their numbers were comparatively small - there
were no more than 380 by the end of the Mongol reign over Běijīng - but they began to in-
crease during the Ming dynasty. By the Qing dynasty more than 2000 hútòng riddled
Běijīng, giving rise to the Chinese saying, 'There are 360 hútòng with names and as many
nameless hútòng as there are hairs on a cow.'
The number of alleyways peaked in the 1950s, when there were reckoned to be over
6000. In recent decades the construction of office buildings and apartment blocks, as well
as the widening of roads, has resulted in the demolition of many of them. However, it's
likely that somewhere between 1000 and 2000 of these beguiling lanes have avoided the
bulldozers.
Venerable alleys include Zhuanta Hutong ( Brick Pagoda Alley), dating from Mongol
times and found west off Xisi Nandajie; and Nanluogu Xiang, which dates back 800 years
and is now the best-known alley in town thanks to its emergence as a nightlife hub. Other
hútòng survive in name only, like 900-year-old Sanmiao Jie (Three Temple St) in Xuānwǔ
District, which dates back to the Liao dynasty (907-1125). Long cited as the oldest hútòng
of them all, little is left of the ancient alley as its courtyard houses were demolished in
2009.
Most hútòng lie within the loop of the Second Ring Rd. The most hútòng -rich neigh-
bourhoods are in the centre and north of Dōngchéng District, closely followed by the north-
ern part of Xīchéng District, especially the area around and to the west of Hòuhǎi Lakes.
The hútòng here were the closest to the Forbidden City, and the nearer you lived to the im-
perial palace, the higher your status. For that reason, the hútòng immediately east and west
of the Forbidden City were reserved for aristocrats and the city elite. It's in these hútòng
that you'll find the oldest and most prestigious sìhéyuàn (courtyard houses), many of which
are now government offices. Most date from the Qing dynasty, though many of the lane-
ways are older.
The lanes around and close to the Forbidden City have been largely protected from the
ravages of redevelopment. The houses further away were the homes of merchants and artis-
ans, featuring more functional design with little or no ornamentation. It is these hútòng, es-
pecially the ones southeast and southwest of Tiān'ānmén Square, that have suffered the
most from the wrecking ball.