Hutongs are the "regional business card" of Beijing. Here, history and modernity collide and blend, presenting a life picture full of old Beijing charm. It is a good place for tourists to learn about Beijing culture and experience the flavor of Beijing local life.

Zhuanta Hutong

Zhuanta Hutong is located on Xisi South Street and appeared as early as the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty playwright Li Haogu wrote in his play "Zhang Sheng Zhu Hai": "Go to the Zhuanta Hutong in the corner of the sheep market to find me." How many hutongs are there in Beijing's history? Folk slang says: "There are 3,600 big hutongs and countless small ones." If we trace back to the Yuan Dynasty, the only hutong that can be traced is Zhuanta Hutong, which has had the same name for more than 700 years. Therefore, Mr. Luo Zhewen called it the "root of Beijing's hutongs".

There is an Wansong Laoren Tower at the east entrance of Zhuanta Hutong, which is named after it. The tower was first built in the Yuan Dynasty, was with an octagonal seven-level dense eaves style. When it was rebuilt in the 18th year of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (1753), it was raised to nine levels. The current tower was rebuilt in 1927 by Ye Gongchuo and others. The tower is 16 meters high, with eight corners and nine-level dense eaves style. It is the only remaining dense eaves style brick tower in Beijing's urban area.

Under the Wansong Laoren Tower in Zhuanta Hutong, there is a bookstore called Zhengyang Bookstore, which is currently the only characteristic bookstore in Beijing that only operates Beijing literature books. Zhengyang Bookstore is the result of the revitalization and reuse of cultural relics and buildings in Beijing. It has now become an important cultural window facing readers and society, and has become the home of Chinese and foreign readers who love Beijing's historical and cultural heritage.

In July 1923, Lu Xun and his wife Zhu An moved to No. 61 Zhuanta Hutong. Lu Xun lived in this small courtyard until May 1924 when he moved to a new home. The small courtyard was simple and crude, but it did not stop Lu Xun from writing. During the more than nine months he lived in Zhuanta Hutong, he collated the "Ji Kang Collection", compiled the second volume of "A Brief History of Chinese Novels", and wrote works such as "At the Tavern", "Happy Family", and "Soap".

Zhang Henshui, a master of chapter novels, wrote works such as "The Story of a Noble Family", "An Unofficial History of Chunming", and "Fate in Tears and Laughter". These novels reflect a wide range of content, inject the imprint of the times, and emit the voice of the times. After the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Henshui returned to Beijing and served as the manager of the "Xinmin News" and the editor-in-chief of the supplement "Beihai". Later, he purchased a small courtyard in Zhuanta Hutong, with the door number 43. He lived here until the spring of 1967, when he completed the last journey of his life.

Wudaoying Hutong

Wudaoying Hutong is located on the North Second Ring Road, west to Andingmen Inner Street.

During the Ming Dynasty, Wudewei Camp was stationed in the Chongjiaofang area, which is now known as Wudaoying. In the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu people changed the name to Wudaoying based on the pronunciation of "Wude". After the reign of Emperor Qianlong, it basically took on the appearance of a hutong. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were 69 courtyards in this 600-meter-long hutong. In 1965, during the rectification of place names, it was officially named "Wudaoying Hutong".

With gray-tiled red gate, single bike and door pier, and birdcage and pigeon whistle, Wudaoying Hutong retains the charm of old Beijing. At the same time, Wudaoying Hutong is slowly evolving into a cultural and artistic hutong.

Today, Wudaoying Hutong not only has artistic cafes, bookstores, bars, restaurants, dessert shops, clothing stores, and galleries, Beijing local residents are also living there. You will see young trendy tourists and foreign tourists, as well as senior residents in pajamas chatting.

As night falls, the small shop windows on both sides of the hutong light up, and more than the hustle and bustle is a calm and warm atmosphere. Various bars welcome their peak moments, and young people walking together laugh and talk, becoming a utopia for relaxing body and mind.

Quiet, artistic, and slow-paced life, all the ups and downs of life are condensed in this small hutong. Wudaoying Hutong is telling the new story of old hutongs in a different way.

Guozijian Hutong

Walking out of Wudaoying Hutong and turning into Guozijian Street from Andingmen Inner Street, this is the only street in Beijing that retains four archways. It was named "Chengxian Street" in the Qing Dynasty because the Temple of Confucius and National Imperial Academy (Guozijian) were located here, and it is also called Guozijian Hutong.

Guozijian Street has a history of more than 700 years and retains the style of old Beijing streets and alleys. In the 24th year of the Yuan Dynasty's Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Shizu Kublai Khan built the "Guozixue" on this street inside the Chongren Gate (now Dongzhimen) of Dadu City. In the sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Temple of Confucius was officially built, and in the tenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the National Imperial Academy (Guozijian) was officially built to reflect the regulation of "on left is the temple, on the right is the academy". It was called "Chengxian Street" during the Qing Dynasty, later in the period of the Republic of China, it was called Guozijian Street in 1965. Emperor Qianlong once praised it as "the capital city is the best area, and Guozijian is the best place".

The Temple of Confucius is a building for worshipping Confucius from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, also known as the "Temple of the First Teacher". The temple faces south and retains the style of the Yuan Dynasty. Upon entering the Confucius Temple, the entire building is covered with yellow glazed tiles, which represents the highest architectural regulation of feudal society.

Temple of Confucius has a forest of thirteen classic steles. The thirteen classics refer to the 13 classic works of Confucianism, including the Book of Songs, the Rites of Zhou, the Analects of Confucius, and the Mencius, and others. There are a total of 189 engraved stones of the thirteen classics in the Temple of Confucius. In the front courtyard of the temple, there are 198 steles of the names of successful candidates in the imperial examinations from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, with the names, hometowns, and rankings of 51,624 successful candidates. This is a precious material for studying China's imperial examination system. Liu Yong, Ji Yun, Lin Zexu, Kang Youwei, Zeng Guofan, and Li Hongzhang are all listed among them. In addition to the thirteen classics, there are also 13 steles of Emperor Kangxi's "Monument to the Great Learning" and "Imperial Inscription of the Sutra" engraved in 1795 during the 60th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, as well as one each of the Manchu and Chinese inscriptions of "Imperial Inscription of the Thirteen Classics by Jiang Heng in Pi Yong".

Shijia Hutong

Shijia Hutong is located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, running from Chaonei South Street in the east to Dongsi South Street in the west. It is named after a wealthy family surnamed Shi who once lived there.

No. 24 Shijia Hutong is the location of Beijing's first hutong museum, the Shijia Hutong Museum. It was originally the residence of the Republic of China's talented woman, Ling Shuhua. Ling Shuhua often held cultural gatherings in her courtyard, which was known as the "Miss's Big Study". Qi Baishi, Xu Zhimo, Hu Shi, and Zhou Zuoren were all guests in this courtyard. Later, Ling Shuhua's descendants transferred the property rights of the courtyard to the street office and proposed to use it for public welfare purposes, which led to the birth of the Shijia Hutong Museum.

In October 2013, the Shijia Hutong Museum officially opened to the public, covering an area of 1,000 square meters, with seven permanent exhibition halls, one temporary exhibition hall, and one multi-functional hall. The permanent exhibition condenses the historical culture and hutong life of old Beijing.

No. 56 Shijia Hutong is known as "Another People's Art Theater". After the liberation of Beiping, the North China People's Art Troupe, which had just arrived in the city, selected No. 56 Shijia Hutong (now No. 20 Shijia Hutong) as its work base. In 1950, the North China People's Art Troupe was renamed the Beijing People's Art Theater (also known as the "Old People's Art Theater"). In 1952, the drama troupe of the Central Academy of Drama and the drama team of the "Old People's Art Theater" merged to form the Beijing People's Art Theater, which specializes in performing dramas. The founding ceremony was held at No. 56 Shijia Hutong, and Cao Yu was appointed as the first dean. After the Capital Theater was built on Wangfujing Street in 1955, the People's Art Theater moved in. No. 56 Shijia Hutong became the dormitory for the theater's employees, and Jiao Juyin, Xia Chun, Yu Shizhi, and others have been living in this courtyard. Many of the People's Art Theater's early classic works were rehearsed here.

No. 59 Shijia Hutong is the location of Shijia Primary School. It was once the site of the temple of the national hero of the Ming Dynasty, Shi Kefa, and also the birth place of modern education in China. In the second year of the Qing Emperor Yongzheng's reign (1724), the "Left Wing Zongxue" was established in the No. 59 courtyard of Shijia Hutong, which only admitted children from the four left-wing banners of the Eight Banners, namely, the Xianghuang, Zhengbai, Xiangbai, and Zhenglan banners. In 1909, the Qing government established the Study Abroad Office in Shijia Hutong with the indemnity paid by the United States after the Boxer Rebellion, which specifically selected students to study in the United States. Later, the Study Abroad Office moved to Qinghua Garden and became the predecessor of Tsinghua University, while Shijia Primary School wae established at No. 59 Shijia Hutong.

Nanluogu Xiang

Nanluogu Xiang is located in the Jiaodaokou area on the east side of Beijing's central axis, running from Drum Tower East Street in the north to Ping'an Avenue in the south. It is 8 meters wide and 787 meters long, built at the same time as the Yuan Dynasty, and is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Beijing with a history of more than 740 years.

There are eight hutongs on each side of Nanluogu Xiang, arranged in a neat "fishbone" shape. It is the only traditional residential area in China that has preserved the courtyard structure of the Yuan Dynasty, with the largest scale, highest grade, and richest resources. It is also a street full of old Beijing charm.

Nanluogu Xiang was once a gathering place for dignitaries, cultural celebrities, and literati. Hong Chengchou and Sengge Linqin, two important officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as Jin Yunpeng, a warlord of the Beiyang government, Qi Baishi, a master of Chinese painting, and Mao Dun, a literary giant of modern times, all lived here.

No. 39 courtyard of Mianhua Hutong was the former residence of Jin Yunpeng; No. 7 Houyuan'ensi Hutong was once Chiang Kai-shek's temporary residence and was originally the mansion of Prince Zaiyi, the second son of Prince Qing in the Qing Dynasty; No. 13 Houyuan'ensi Hutong was Mao Dun's former residence; No. 13 Yuer Hutong was the former residence of Qi Baishi; No. 35 and No. 37 Maor Hutong were the ancestral homes of the last empress Wanrong.

As a historical and cultural preservation district, Nanluogu Xiang not only preserves the ancient alleys and courtyards made of blue bricks and gray tiles, but also contains rich humanistic and historical heritage due to the existence of these famous people's former residences.