Series: Hutong

Exploring Beijing hutongs

A hutong is an ancient city alley, typical of Beijing. The centuries-old lanes have developed into a hot tourist attraction during the holiday season. Surrounding the Forbidden City, many of the hutongs were built during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

Program Video

Episode 1: Wandering in hutong

Beijing´s narrow alleyways, or hutongs are most representative of the old Beijing. For hundreds of years, they´ve witnessed the passage of time, and starting today.

Episode 2: Rich culture of the hutong

In the second episode of our hutong special, we’ll sample the rich culture of the hutongs. The various hutongs, with their unique shape, size, and functions all reflect their deep cultural legacy.

Episode 3: Future of hutongs

In today´s third episode of our Hutong special, we´ll look at the future of the hutongs. As an increasingly modernized city, the ancient Beijing hutongs have faced a wealth of challenges. How to resolve these issues has become a pressing concern.

Episode 4: Old residents´ new life in the Beijing hutong

Of course, the face of hutong has slowly changed with time by the incorporation of these modern elements.

Episode 5: Hutongs´ evolvement in modern time

In the fifth episode of our hutong series, we´ll follow Yin Chen to see how hutongs have evolved in the modern time, and have developed new functions, while preserving their traditional qualities.

Episode 6: Welcoming the World

Wu Daoyin, a hutong with a history of over 600 years. From its old appearance, you probably think it was a typical Beijing hutong. However, with time, the hutong is seeing more and more western elements.