Beijing Hotels: New-Age Wonder Meets Old-World Charm

Noiselessly observing the lavish and modern Beijing hotels are the city's ancient houses: the Hutongs and Siheyuans. What are hutongs? They are alleys formed by groups of siheyuans or long-established courtyard residences. By connecting one siheyuan to another and one hutong to another, many neighborhoods were formed.

Believed to be of Mongolian origin, the word "hutong," meaning "water wells," was first used during the Yuan Dynasty.

Under the Ming dynasty, the Forbidden City was the city's center from which concentric rings were built on. Wealthier citizens had bigger, orderly and more beautiful hutongs. Their status afforded them a nearer address to the center. Oppositely, merchants, artisans, commoners and laborers lived farther from the circle. Thus, they had minor hutongs. The hutong was considered to be the simplest level of administrative division in China, compared to that of villages in some countries.

Fueling more interest, the hutongs are christened with unique names. These include places, plants such as Liushu (willow) Hutong, directions, markets, temples, and even words having positive attributes, like Xiqing (happy) Hutong. This play of words can already make you smile even though you haven't gone to the place yet.

Significant changes happened in the 20th century, especially when China's dynastic era ended. The arrangement of the hutongs was affected because many new ones were built haphazardly. The old ones lost their former glory, while dozens sprouted in the outskirts of the city.

As China became a People's Republic, many of the old hutongs were torn down and were replaced with wider and more modern avenues and skyscrapers, some of which are well-known hotels in Beijing. These required generations of families to leave their hutongs in search for newer places to live.

Luckily, a number of Beijing's ancient hutongs can presently be found, some of them have been made as protected areas. These older neighborhoods provide the modern man a glimpse of how life once was in this rustic yet charming capital. Tourists who stay in nearby Beijing hotels can explore the wonders of these small communities through pedicabs.

Contrary to the extravagant court life of the elite and the sophistication of the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, the hutongs reveal the culture of common Beijingers. Many people still consider the hutongs the heart of the city. From the windows inside their Beijing hotels, tourists can marvel on how the hutongs reflect the dreams and desires of the historical Chinese who had never thought that someday, they can even soar higher and reach their full potentials.

Article Source: TravelFreeGuides.com

About the Author

E. Larson is a long-time expatriate in Beijing, China. He works closely with the Ningxia Hotel Beijing and many other hotels in Beijing. Check out his website about the Ningxia Hotel Beijing here.

by: Efrenn Larson

Total views: 6 Word Count: 432 Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 Time: 9:48 AM - 0 comments

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