--Robert Westbrook, My China.

Not long ago, a Chinese friend had asked me how to say "hutong" in English. I was at a loss, because really, there is no translation that can do the term justice. Some translate hutongs as "small alleys," but that conjures up images of forgotten, lifeless spaces between city skyscrapers, choked with cardboard boxes and lost pets. Beijing's hutongs are the complete opposite -- the hutongs are where all the life of Beijing is concentrated. Tight communities live through their hutongs - it is on these little roads that families play, travel, buy goods, gossip, and connect. But perhaps you are still wondering - what, literally, is a hutong? Old Beijing was comprised of walled-in building complexes called "quadrangles." The quadrangles were built side by side, all facing the same direction. Criss-cross alleys were built between the quadrangles for access purposes. As time wore on, more and more families began sharing quadrangles, thereby creating a new set of access roads. The newer roads were more twisted and confusing than the first.

The two kinds of access roads combined are called hutongs. There are nearly 4,000 hutongs in Beijing, and if you were to link them side by side, they would be longer than the Great Wall. You can get your photo taken at the Summer Palace, and you can visit the Forbidden City, but if you really want to learn something meaningful about China and about the way the Chinese live, a jaunt down the intricate maze of Beijing's hutongs is essential. The best way for a newcomer to see them is through a rickshaw tour offered by the Beijing Hutong Tourist Agency. You may be shaking your head - how can one learn anything through an organized tour? Unlike most tours that have you learn about new place by looking at it through a bus window, the hutong tours bring you right into people's lives. Even the Lonely Planet, the most anti-tour group publication in the world, recommends this particular tour to its readers. The tour provides many opportunities for visitors to interact with locals and to participate in their daily activities. Guides ensure that guests learn something about both Beijing's colorful history and contemporary lifestyles.

Sample Tour

Itineraries vary with season and requested time length. The following 3-hour tour is offered in winter.

1) Guanghua Temple

We climb into our little rickshaws and drivers place quilts over our legs to keep us warm. Initial impressions of the hutongs as we roll by are all positive - unlike the stark facades that line Beijing's main boulevards, everything here has flavor, color, life. I am attracted by the steam billowing from an outdoor noodle joint - so welcoming on such a chilly, gray morning.

Our first stop is the Guanghua Temple, a Buddhist temple built nearly 700 years ago. The temple houses 20 monks and welcomes practitioners. We enter the temple courtyard and are instantly struck by its ancient beauty - enhanced by echoes of singing and soft, heart beat drums and gongs. A smiling Buddha-faced monk lets us in one of the sanctuaries, where we find ourselves immersed in a sea of warm setting-sun colors and the earthy sweet scent of incense. The room, like many others at the temple, is full of statues and symbols, each with its own unique function and story.

2) Drum Tower

After exploring the temple, learning about Buddhism's eclectic history and fascinating traditions, we ride our rickshaws to the Drum Tower. The tower, first constructed in AD 1272, was once used in conjunction with the Bell Tower to tell time. After climbing exactly 69 stairs (arranged at a heart-thumping 45 degree angle), we could get a panoramic view of the Old City. But unfortunately, rather than hutongs, pollution seemed to filled up most of the spaces between modern buildings. Supposedly though, on clear days, the confusing and twisted hutongs suddenly make sense when seen from above.

Inside the tower is the biggest drum in the world, art vendors, and a model of a typical quadrangle. Here, we learn about the history of hutongs in Beijing.

3) Typical Hutongs

Now we go on foot. After our guide explains the outside features of the quadrangles, we visit the people who live in them. Mr. Wu, a retired archeology professor, owns an entire (tax-free) quadrangle, an unusual luxury -- most quadrangles are inhabited by five to eight families. We visit his home where he and his nine-member, three generation family live together. We chat about the joys and inconveniences of hutong life. Perhaps one of the most notable inconveniences is the fact that very few of the quadrangles are equipped with showers and toilets. Most people have to walk down the hutongs and wait in line to use the public facilities. Mr. Wu believes the practice helps bring the community closer together.

The second home we visit, much smaller than Mr. Wu's, is more typical. An elderly, bright-eyed woman, Mrs. Li Furong, welcomes us into her cozy two-room home. She sits us down, and like any grandmother, makes us eat. We all instantly feel right at home. We stay for a long while, chatting, asking questions.

4) Prince Gong's Home

Prince's Gong's home, built in 1777, is the largest quadrangle and best-preserved prince's residence in Beijing. After strolling about the gardens, we participate in a tea ceremony at the Hanmu Chali traditional tea house. An English-speaking guide talks us through the ceremony and teaches us about China's complex tea culture. Did you know that China has two-year tea colleges where students can major in things like tea ceremony and tea leaf processing?

After we have our fill of tea (and new knowledge), we head out. We ride in our rickshaws past a couple markets and chat with a few locals along the way. Five stars to this very informative and fascinating tour.

The Beijing Hutong Tourist Agency "To the Hutong" tour is an introduction, a springboard. Armed with what you learn from the tour, you can return to the twisted mazes and explore on your own, losing yourself in the cacophony of Beijing life. Three hour tours costing 180 yuan per person are offered daily, starting at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.. Longer and shorter tours are also available.

from China Today