Hutong life stands test of time

Editor's Note: Beijing is co-hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics with Zhangjiakou in Hebei province. From culture and cuisine to tourism and the arts, we take you to the attractions in these areas of North China for an unforgettable stay.

For centuries, a solid grid of residential alleys, known as hutong, characterized Beijing's culture.

As Italian explorer Marco Polo marveled in his 13th century travel logs, "the whole interior of the city is laid out in squares like a chessboard with such masterly precision that no description can do justice to it".

If you are wondering how Beijingers used to live, you will need to veer from the grand architecture and into the hutong.

According to the website of the Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design, 1,320 hutong in the city have been recorded and protected.

As high-rises dominate the skyline in Chang'an Avenue and Wangfujing Street in downtown Beijing, to the northeast of the avenue the atmosphere is totally different.

The area is home to a maze of hutong and traditional gray-walled courtyards, or siheyuan. Numerous bicycle and tricycle riders ring their bells as they make their way through the neighborhood.

The area, which covers about 1.25 square kilometers and has a population of more than 36,700, is part of the Chaoyangmen subdistrict in Dongcheng district. Home to some of the best-known hutong in the capital, including Shijia Hutong, it brings a sense of tranquility and traditional life to an otherwise bustling city.

Situated about 200 meters north of Jinbao Street and Wangfujing, Shijia Hutong stretches for about 1 kilometer from Dongsi Nandajie in the west to Chaoyangmen Nanxiaojie in the east. It boasts some 80 siheyuan with scores of residents.