The introduction of Hutongs

Hutongs are narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with Beijing, China. The word hutong comes from the Mongolian hottog, meaning "water well." During the growth of towns and cities, wells dug by villagers formed the centres of new communities.

In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another.

The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods. In old China, streets and lanes were defined by width. Hutongs were lanes no wider than 9 metres. Many are smaller; Beijing hutongs range in width from 10 metres down to only 40 centimetres.

Each hutong has a name. Some have had only one name since their creation, while others have had several throughout their history. Names were given to hutongs for various reasons: * Place names, such as Inner Xizhimen Hutong

* Plants, such as Liushu Hutong (Liushu means willow)

* Directions, as Xi Hongmen Hutong (Xi means west)

* Beijing idioms such as Yizi Hutong (a local term for soap is yizi)

* Words with positive attributes, such as Xiqing Hutong (Xiqing means happy)

* Markets and businesses, such as Yangshi Hutong (Yangshi is a sheep market)

* Temples, such as Guanyinsi Hutong (Guanyinsi is the Kuan-yin Temple)

* People's names, such as Mengduan Hutong.

While most Beijing hutongs are straight, Jiudaowan Hutong turns nineteen times. At its narrowest section, Qianshi Hutong near Qianmen (Front Gate) is only 40 centimeters wide.If you have interests in Hutongs, you can visit Beijing Hutongs which is the image of Hutongs.