Photos: Beijing’s historic hutongs

A classic hutong scene: these red doors and lion-head doorknockers are widespread. People often leave the doors open, allowing you to glimpse the communal courtyard houses inside.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

My favourite place to photograph in Beijing is the historic hutongs (alleyways) in the old town. Originally built by the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in the Thirteenth Century, these narrow passages are filled with stone and tiled courtyard houses that once housed servants of the imperial palace and their families. Plain grey brick walls are interspersed with bright red doors with grinning lion head knockers and banners with good luck sayings on them in elegantly-painted Chinese characters. Behind these are courtyard houses, where several families or generations live communally. In the summer, older men hang around the doorways with their t-shirts rolled up over their stomachs in the so-called “Beijing bikini”, while brightly coloured birds chirp from overhead cages, hung below the eaves of houses.

There are different theories on the origin of the word hutong, but the most commonly accepted is that it derives from the Mongolian word for well, and indicates that the alleyway originally led to water – a scarce resource in Beijing’s dry and dusty climate. Once at risk of disappearing during Beijing’s early 2000s construction boom, the hutongs have been preserved by tourism, with many of the main streets converted into cafes, bars and antique shops. Go a few blocks back, however, and the old communities are still there.

Liulichang is my favourite hutong district so far. It’s just outside Zhengyangmen, old Beijing’s Main Gate, which used to divide the city into Mongolian and Chinese districts. Since the Ming Dynasty, it has been famous for scholars, painters and calligraphers, with different streets home to merchants catering to each one. This trade has continued to this day and on our first visit, we met one of the last craftsmen, Hu Cheng Ming. In his hutong house, he still makes calligraphy brushes in the traditional way from fox and civet tails.

After doing the Liulichang tour with two families, including four children, I went back early one morning with Scott (the other dad). We wandered down random narrow side streets looking for interesting people and details to photograph. Then we stopped for some delicious baozi (dumplings) for breakfast.

Here are some of my favourite photos from that trip:

A bird cage with ornate China food and water bowls, hung beneath a rooftop next to a lightbulb.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A delivery man walks down a sidestreet carrying packages from his tuk-tuk and talking to a shopkeeper.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A typical hutong alleyway, with grey bricks, red doors, wall carvings and a motorbike taxi.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A workman rides a tricycle cart down a hutong alleyway early in the morning. The characters on his t-shirt are from a property company.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

I tried shooting some shots from the hip to capture more spontaneous moments. This was the most successful. Here, two street cleaners shout at a motorcyclist who drove through the part of the alleyway they were cleaning.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

Another rusted tricycle cart parked in an alleyway, with a much newer lock.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A highlight of this walk was stopping for local baozi (dumplings) for breakfast. Unlike in Bangkok, people generally don’t like having their photos taken in Beijing. But this shopkeeper was a delightful exception. He cheerfully posed for me while calling out to passers by.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A customer leaving the same baozi restaurant. The sign says: Jing Fu Restaurant (small eatery in Tiecunxie Street).
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

Although the basic hutong design is grey brick, some households decorate their outer walls with paintings, ornaments and even bonsai trees, to add some life and colour.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

Another bird cage outside a local shop. The blue sign says: Old Beijing Grocery and General Store.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

It’s not just birds in cages. These kittens were presumably for sale, and certainly in need of a larger living space.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A red lantern hangs beneath the eaves of a traditional hutong house.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A cook cuts vegetables out the back of a local restaurant.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A red rose reflected in a motorbike’s review mirror.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A surprising number of residents had hung their underwear in the alleyways outside their houses to dry.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

Another red door/lion head doorknocker combo. In Liulichang hutong, all the doorknockers are the exact same design – possibly mass produced for the local government (I’ve been unable to find out for sure). In other hutongs, the designs differ. Red doors used to be reserved for the royal family, but now anyone can use them. Lions, meanwhile, have been used since ancient times as guardians on doors of temples, houses and shops, to protect against evil spirits.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

Some of the hutong buildings are derelict, as can be seen in this series of archways.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

A woman rides a motorbike down one of the narrower hutong alleyways, past a school or childcare centre on the left.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

And finally a Kung Fu Panda box on the back of a motorbike in a hutong alleyway. There’s a certain audacity in Hollywood appropriating Chinese culture and then selling it back to them. But it’s also a great movie, as my kids can confirm.
© Andrew Brown/2024/China

Nanluoguxiang hutong

And here are a few photos from a later photo walk, in November, to a different hutong. This is Nanluoguxiang (or South Gong and Drum Lane) hutong, to the north of the Forbidden City. It’s one of Beijing’s oldest hutongs, dating back to the establishment of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, 800 years ago. On a map, it looks like a fish bone with a long main street of almost 1km, flanked by eight smaller alleyways on both sides. The bustling main street is full of bars, shops and restaurants, but the small side alleys are quieter and still lived in by local families.