Day 4 afternoon: Hutong area - Old Beijing

We had a special guide for the Hutong area of Beijing, Nathan. He's a historian and feels strongly that the old areas should be preserved. He took us there and, after having seen mostly modern buildings, it was surprising to turn the corner and see a completely different part of the city with a canal and trees and old buildings. This is what China must have looked like to the first Westerners who came here.

We walked for awhile and then took a pedicab (middle photo is me and Sue) through the alleyways. We then visited a private home (Mr. & Mrs. Lu) and spent some time learning about their life. Unfortunately I didn't get any good photos of the home which I suspect was nicer than most of the homes in the area, but you can see what the courtyard looked like (last photo).

More about the hutong>>