HUTONG RAMBLE

For a start, there really isn't a great translation of the word,"hutong." Some dictionaries will suggest "alley", but that doesn't seem to be a good fit, nor does "lane". Hutongs are urban (lanes don't have to be, hutongs do) and I usually think of alleys as being secondary routes, whereas hutongs are the only way to reach the homes they serve. Hutongs are narrow, and they are generally not straight for any real length. Twisting, in fact, is what most hutongs are.

The houses-- called siheyuan, are courtyards with four rooms, one on each side. Existing cheek by jowl, the hutongs provide the only access. Because they are so narrow, in some places barely wide enough for a single automobile (forget two) things move in and out of the hutong neighborhoods on carts and bicycles for the most part. Narrow trucks can make it through partway, but after a while, they can go no further. Most households have a daily infusion of groceries-- the homes are small, the refrigerators are small, storage space is limited. There are no basements, and essentially no garages. Some families stockpile Chinese cabbage and onions for the winter, but fresh meat, fruit, fish and vegetables are usually bought daily.

hod