We ventured into a hutong during our last day in Beijing. A hutong is a old city alley with narrow streets and court yard homes. Didi and I had actually visited this part of Old Beijing in 2006 but did not go into the hutong. this time, we had the opportunity to visit with a home owner and enter their home (for a fee of course ). Along with the tour was a walk through the old city bell tower. The bell, and partner drum tower, were used to tell the city what time it was. In the morning, bell performances noted AM time and drums in PM. These date back to the 1200's and are just north of the Forbidden City which is 200 years younger. Finally, we saw Prince Gong's mansion from the 1700's.
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