One of the questions often asked by visitors to Beijing is "where are the hutongs in Beijing?" Beijing Hutong originated in the Yuan Dynasty, with a maximum of over 6,000 lanes, the earliest historical one is a Hutong between Chaoyangmennei Dajie(St) and Dongsi, orderly planning, the distance between hutong and hutong is roughly the same. The north-south direction is generally a street, relatively wide, such as South Street and North Street from Beijing Railway Station to Chaoyangmennei Dajie(St), because in the past to take the carriage mainly, so it is also called the road. The east-west direction is generally a hutong, relatively narrow, with a focus on walking. There are thousands of hutongs in Beijing, which were formed during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties in Chinese history, most of which were formed during the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. The direction of the hutong is mostly due east and west, and the width is generally no more than nine meters. Most of the buildings on both sides of the hutong are Siheyuan. Siheyuan is a kind of building surrounded by four houses in a boxy symmetrical form. Large and small Siheyuan are arranged close to each other, and the passageway between them is called hutong.

Hutongs look similar on the outside, but their internal characteristics are different. They are not only the pulse of the city, but also the place where ordinary people live in Beijing. Beijingers have special feelings for hutong, which is the passage for people to enter and exit their homes, but also folk customs museums, which have left many imprints on social life. Hutongs are generally very close to the busy city, but there is no noisy traffic, which can be described as quiet, the following recommendations are a few representative old Beijing hutongs:

Imperial College (Guozijian)

Guozijian was built from Yuan Dynasty to the  24th year of the Yuan (AD 1287) and is the only existing ancient central public university building. Adjacent to the Temple of Confucius and Yonghe Lama Temple. Guozijian D a jie (St) is lined with locust trees on both sides of the street, the east and west ends of the street and the archway painted on both sides of the Guozijian gate, which is the only remaining ancient building street in Beijing with four archways.

The Glazed Memorial Archway (Liuli Paifang) of Guozijian is said to be the only one in Beijing that does not belong to a temple. On the banners on both sides of the archway are the imperial pens of Emperor Qianlong, which shows the reverence of culture and education of ancient China. There are perennial exhibitions such as "Ancient Chinese Imperial Examination Exhibition" and "The Original Display  Exhibition of Guozijian" in the Guozijian. Visitors interested in the Imperial examination system may wish to visit here. Walking along Chengxianjie (St) from Yonghe Lama Temple, the surrounding Hutong area is very good, and the gray walls and black bricks of the Siheyuan are all original taste and flavor of authentic city life.

Yangmeizhu Xiejie (St)

Yangmeizhu Xiejie (St) is located in Dashilanjie (St), Xicheng, Beijing. It has been gradually formed since the completion of Beijing in Yuan Dynasty. The street is 496 meters long, starting from Meishijie (St) in the east and Yanshoujie (St) in the west. In the Ming Dynasty, this street was named "Xianjie" because of its direction. During the period of the Republic of China, Yangmeizhu Xiejie (St) was once a famous bookshop street, and seven famous bookshops such as the World Book Company were opened here.

It is also a cultural and scholarly street, where many books that lead Chinese people to pursue new knowledge in modern times were born; Many cultural celebrities have also left footprints here, Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong, Liang Qichao, Lu Xun, Yang Xiaolou, etc., or live in the street, or become frequent visitors.

Wudaoying Hutong

Wudaoying Hutong were formerly known as Wude Wei Camp, "Wei" is the basic unit of the Ming army, the camp is a military unit, the garrison is generally known as the camp. In 1965, when the place name was rectified, the Xiaotoutiao and Xiaoertiao were merged and renamed Wudaoying Hutong.

Now Wudaoying has become the most emerging petty bourgeoisie literature and art gathering place in Beijing, from cafes, bars and restaurants from around the world, to jewelry shops and clothing stores created by independent designers, a variety of boutique shops abound, is the new favorite place for literature youth. The marketplace atmosphere of the old Hutong is perfectly integrated with the trendy fashion, and Wudaoying Hutong is in another style to tell the new story of the old hutong.

Yandai Xiejie (St)

Yandai Xiejie (St) is located in the Shichahai Core Protection Zone, Xicheng, Beijing, starting from Di'anmen Dajie (St) in the east and Xiaoshibei Hutong in the west. It runs northeast-southwest, with a total length of 232 meters and an average width of 4 meters.

Formed in the Yuan Dynasty, it was named "Gulou Xiejie" in the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, and was renamed "Yandai Xiejie (St)" in the late Qing Dynasty. It is one of the oldest hutongs in Beijing. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it mainly operated tobacco bags, tobacco sets, antique calligraphy and painting, and was called "small glazed factory". There are cultural relic protection units such as Guangfu Temple, Sanyuanfumo Palace and Yandai Xiejie (St) shophouses in the street, which retain the traditional hutong style as a whole.