Hutongs are are a historical but slowly disappearing feature of Beijing. A Hutong generally identifies a fairly narrow street lined by Siheyuan (quadrangle and courtyard houses), thats then linked by other alleys to form a small neighborhood. Beijing hutong become more and more popular with foreigners.
With 1276, the final of remnants the Song Dynasty were finally destroyed by way of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan setup the Yuan Dynasty (officially 1271-1368) and produced his capital in Beijing. The term "Hutong" is said to originate from the Mongol word "huto", significance water well, approximately which many early Hutongs grew. This name was gradually adopted by all residents involving Beijing hutong tours to mean a little street or alley.
That houses lining Hutongs are generally called Siheyuan (quadrangle or courtyard). In Beijing these are generally rectangular compounds, with buildings on all four sides. Almost every Siheyuan is surrounded just by high walls, with these walls creating a straight passage. The size and level of decoration of Siheyuan with Beijing reflected the social status in the residents, using those of high officials and merchants often good sized with elaborate decoration, while those in the poor were often crowded with only basic decoration.
Thousands of Hutongs were built within the Forbidden City, along with the majority built during this Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Hutongs when high officials resided were closest on the imperial palace and leaped in ordered rows with north to south Beijing hutong tour. Lower level businessmen and ordinary residents lived in crude Hutongs far to the north and south of the Forbidden City. The culture of Beijing Hutong
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