BEIJING – HÚTÒNG HUNTING

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06.11.08

We walked almost 18 km. Now that we are finally sitting on our bed, I can't even feel my legs any more. We spent all day “hútòng hunting”. But before getting on the way for this long journey we decided to have breakfast out in a lovely café we walked past the other day. It looked good and in fact it tasted good. It's called BreadTalk, if you pass by, stop.
As I said, what we've done today has been looking for hútòng, with the help of Lonely Planet. Hútòng literary means alley. For centuries the hútòng have been the heart and the bones of Beijing, they're now giving way to new developments and people is moving from their old courtyard houses into flats. But still, the centre of town preserves hundreds of them. We started our trip from the very centre, at Wangfujing. A few that we expected to find had already been replaced by car parks, but we soon reached Fengfu Hútòng, where one of the courtyard houses once belonging to Lao She, today hosts a museum dedicated to the writer. The man at the door gave us two audio guides and we spent some time inside this small house that seemed so far away from the city life. We proceeded on our way towards north. Some hútòng we walk through are very busy. Mainly with people walking or just hanging in the street, kids playing, shops displaying and bicycles running. Even thou these streets are very narrow, sometimes also cars make their way.
Traffic in Beijing has its own rules, as many places do. It can be hard at first but practice will teach you soon. I would say that the basic principle on which is based, is a hierarchy. Very simple. Cars come first, they always have right of way, won't leave it in front of anything or anyone. Then come the bicycles, same principle but obviously they would never put themselves against a car. Generally car always honk at them, they ignore it and the car will pass. Last come pedestrians. Pedestrians have no right of any kind and therefore are ignored completely. They're ghosts to all drivers. So if you are a pedestrian the only rule is to avoid vehicles and try to survive. In this scenario traffic lights play an insignificant role, that of street lights.
We had lunch in a very nice bar inside a courtyard and then, continued to explore. We walked along Qianhai Lake and the moat surrounding the Forbidden City. Many people sat running colourful kites, other sat around small tables to play cards or go. Rickshaw drivers are everywhere around the lake and won't give you a break. We've also been chased by masseurs along the way! After surviving this short section we walked towards the Park of the Temple of Heaven just to catch a glimpse of it when the sun was already gone and our legs trembling. Back to the hostel we had the good news that our tickets to Vietnam arrived but tomorrow we'll have to go to the embassy and find out if we need to change itinerary because of the flood. You'll find out.

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Comments

[Linda]

Fantastic as always
What a trip of a lifetime. The great thing is that you are seeing and experiencing the actual life of the people at each place - not just the tourist glitz. Am always pleased to see their is a new instalment to read and absorb. Looking forward to seeing you both soon, Linda