Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DIMENSIONS
Despite an attempt at standardisation, Běijīng's alleys have their own personalities and pro-
portions. The longest is Dongjiaomin Xiang, which extends for 3km, while the shortest -
unsurprisingly called Yichi Dajie ( One Foot St) - is a brief 25m. Some people contest that
Guantong Xiang ( Guantong Alley), near Yangmeizhu Xijie which is east of Liulichang
Dongjie, is even shorter, at 20m.
Some
hútòng
are wide and leafy boulevards, whereas others are narrow, claustrophobic
corridors. Běijīng's broadest alley is Lingjing Hutong (Fairyland Alley), with a width of
32m, but the aptly named Xiaolaba Hutong ( Little Trumpet Alley), the city's smallest, is a
squeeze at 50cm.
Chubby wayfarers would struggle even more in Qianshi Hutong, situated not far from
Qiánmén and Dàzhàlan - its narrowest reach is a mere 44cm, although it's a pathway rather
than a genuine
hútòng
. Nor do all the lanes run straight: Jiuwan Hutong ( Nine Bend Al-
ley) has no less than 13 turns in it.
The most significant
hútòng
have red street signs sporting the alley name. The
hútòng
name in
Chinese also appears on a small metal plaque above doorways strung along each alley. A
small blue plate over the doorway of a
sìhéyuàn
indicates a building protected by law.
