Sep 15 - hutongs and acrobats
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2008
1
3
20
Trip End
Oct 03, 2008
Beijing,
China
Monday, September 15, 2008
The restaurant itself was in this alley. They had painted ducks on the wall to show people how to get to the restaurant. It poured rain on our way home, which cleared a lot of the humidity of the day.
This morning we headed out to the hutons, a traditional neighbourhood in the old style. They were small homes around a central courtyard. As space came at a premium, the homes started to house more families, and built into the courtyards, forming little rabbit warrens of homes. It is very cluttered and crowded. Most hutong areas are being destroyed to make way for high rises. This may not be a bad thing though as none have bathrooms or running water, and they still use coal to heat their homes and cook their food. As a result of this, and other sources, lung problems are frequent. The area we were in today however will be maintained as a hutong, just for show. There is a real sense of community as people coming into the central areas to play chess or mahjoong or just to meet and chat, as well as purchase supplies.
This afternoon, I went with our photographer leader to visit a Beiing photographer friend of his. He photographs traditional peoples and ethnic majorities of China. His work was amazing. He also had a personal perspective to share about growing up in China and the modern China of today. It was very insightful.
In the evening we went to the see some acrobats. Very talented and a lot of fun! I took some pictures although they told us not to.
