The General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, "we have to protect and take advantage of the historical and cultural block to make it amazing in the process of modern city construction." Beijing has a history more than 3000 years of city building, and a history more than 800 years of capital building. It has famous name all over the world because of its history and cultural. There are so many historical and cultural block in Beijing and they experience vicissitudes and difficulties in the history, it is a vibrant historical district. Not only do they embody the vein of the ancient city, but also show out the long history and culture with excitement.

"We are going to keep the memory and remember the nostalgia." This is General Secretary Xi Jinping’s exhortation. As the most intact and largest hutong neighborhood in old Beijing, the Dongsi Historical and Cultural Block has a clear historical context and classic quadrangle dwellings groups, and it is the first batch of historical and cultural protectional areas in Beijing. n 2015, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced that three of the first 30 Chinese historical and cultural districts in Beijing were selected, and Dongsi Historical and Cultural Block was one of them. Walking together in the Dongsi Historical and Cultural Block and we could remember the nostalgia of old Beijing.

Dongsi Hutong Museum

Dongsi Hutong Museum is a strategic cooperating project between GROUP LIMITED and Dongcheng Government, and it is the first starting point of the comprehensive environmental management project of Dongsi Hutong Museum, and named itself as a comprehensive cultural institution integrating traditional culture and contemporary culture.

Covering an area of 1,023 square meters and a constructional area of 717 square meters, the Dongsi Hutong Museum is a standard three-in-four （it is pointed to a quadrangle dwellings with a forecourt ,a middle court and a backcourt）building complex, which was built around 1940 and was once the office of the Dongsi Police Station.

The Dongsi Hutong Museum takes the history and culture of Hutong as the theme of display, and when you walk into the house, you will be greeted by a dazzling array of intangible cultural heritage works and old folk objects. The diverse Hutong culture and Beijing flavor culture will be gathered in it, truly show the life style of old Beijing.

Dongsi Hutong Museum is divided into five exhibition areas: Dongsi Impression Exhibition Area, Impression Washer Exhibition Area, Cultural Visit Exhibition Area, Cultural Exchange Living Room, and Historical and Cultural Physical Exhibition Area, which are presented in the form of "Cultural Meeting Room".

The courtyard is also equipped with an armillary sphere and a 28-star globe, the design of the armillary sphere comes from the "Armillary Theory", like a link across time and space, connecting the first courtyard and the second courtyard. The establishment of the 28-star globe of the third Courtyard and the armillary sphere form a main line in the future, building a bridge across time, space, nationality and culture.

In the Dongsi Hutong Museum, various cultural exhibitions, streets and community activities will be held from time to time, attracting many citizens and residents of Dongsi to come.

Former Residence of Chong Li

The quadrangle dwellings, Hutong and alleys in the area of the Dongsi Historical and Cultural Block were developed and formed on the pattern of streets and alleys in the Yuan Dynasty, and were important traditional blocks in Beijing in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is characterized by the east-west direction of the alley, straight and smooth, connected by alleys in the north and south, and the scale of the house is larger, and most of them are the mansions of the Ming and Qing bureaucrats.

The Former Residence of Chong Li in Dongsi Historical and Cultural Block is a national cultural relics protection unit, and its house numbers are No. 63 and No. 65, which are classic benchmarks for quadrangle dwellings architecture in Beijing. Chongli is a bachelor in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. He has an in-law relationship with the royal family, that’s why his house building is luxurious, there are rockeries, pavilions, gardens, verandahs, stages, horses in the courtyard. It was known as "the crown of the Dongcheng" in the past time. During the Anti-Japanese War, it was purchased by Zhang Yanqing, the president of the puppet New Citizens Association, and Zhang Yanqing was the son of Zhang Zhidong ,a scholar, in the late Qing Dynasty.

The east and west sides of Former Residence of Chong Li are left each other by Nanbanqiao Hutong and Yueguang Hutong. Walking in the two Hutongs, you can see some buildings and trees in the Former Residence of Chong Li. There are No. 61 and No. 57 courtyards on the east side, and the courtyard gates are exquisite, and the brick carvings are very amazing.

Next to it is Courtyard No. 55, which is the former residence of Sha Qianli, one of the famous "Seven Gentlemen" and patriots. This courtyard was built in the late Qing Dynasty, and now the courtyard is slightly dilapidated, but it cannot hide the exquisiteness of the original building.

Yufang Hutong

Dongsi is a typical quadrangle dwellings area in the ancient capital Beijing with the Hutongs arranged in a regular and orderly manner and the proportions of the quadrangle dwellings conform to the regulations, and it has always retained its own Beijing accent and charm. The Hutong quadrangle dwellings here has become a unique landscape in Beijing.

Yufang Hutong, called Bandaren Hutong in the Xuantong period of the Qing Dynasty and called along the Republic of China, renamed Yufang Hutong in 1965 when the place name was rectified. According to the Yan Du Cong Kao: " The Chronicles of Shuntianfu " case: During the Qianlong period, Bandi,the general suppressed the rebellion in the north was conferred titles of nobility on the First Faithful Warrior. He lived here, so the building was named it. "The Buildings with Majesty, Merely Heard" contains: "Yulu Mountain's mansion is in Bandi’s Hutong. "Most of the old house has been demolished or remodeled.

A countryard No. 5 in Yufang Hutong is one of the first historical buildings in Beijing. The courtyard is one of the former residences of Xu Shichang, built in the early years of the Republic of China and it is a second quadrangle dwellings located in the south and facing north. The golden pillar gate, the door pier, the queti and the hanging upside down lintel are well preserved. The south room of the hall, four sill windows and horizontal windows, reflects the technical level and structural characteristics of residential buildings in Beijing urban area in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, so it has any scientific value.

The corridor in front of a building with two storeys retains the hanging upside down lintel, the arch door, the wooden staircase, and the supporting windows, reflecting that the building was influenced by the spread of Western architectural culture during the Republic of China, and has the  characteristics of Westernization of architectural style, which reflects the high historical and cultural value.