Hutong History

Hutong was in fact the outcome of Yuan Dynasty. The Mongolian of Yuan Dynasty had named the streets and lanes that interconnecting Yuandadu as Hutong. After that, the name of Hutong as well as its original functionality is remained until today in Beijing. The perfect match between hutong and siheyuan which formed the city of Yuan Dynasty had fully showed the wisdom of urbanization and management policy of the Dynasty. As the hutong was set either vertically or horizontally straight, the whole area of city was therefore being separated into many squares like a chess board. During that time, the width of hutong was generally wider when compared to the width of hutong nowadays. As the wide area of hutong had made it possible for construction of smaller courtyard in between, in Ming Dynasty, many small hutongs within larger hutongs were formed as a result.
If you have a Beijing map in hand, then it is not hard for you to discover that almost all streets, lanes and hutongs of Beijing are perfectly aligned either vertically or horizontally straight. Therefore, when you are walking along the street in Beijing, there is no short cut for you as no matter which direction you choose, the distance will be basically the same. Up until year 1949, there were 1330 hutongs in Dongcheng District of Beijing. Walking in these hutong in Beijing, you can experience the wonderful creation of hutong on your own as these hutongs are interconnected with each other. It might turn to be a maze if you walk too deep inside. Anyhow, these hutongs have housed many Beijing locals.
Although hutong is basically looked alike, it might be varied in context of sizes, length and turns too. The narrowest hutong in Beijing is Qianshi Hutong which located at Dashilan District, somewhere around Qianmen. The narrowest section of this hutong is only about 0.4 meter; while, Dongxi Jiaominxiang Hutong is crowned as the longest hutong in Beijing. As it is too long in distance, the hutong is separated into east and west section for the ease of management. Actually, Dongxi Jiaominxiang Hutong is a hutong which parallel to Changan Avenue. The hutong starts at Chongwenmennei Avenue and ends at Beixinhua Street. The whole distance of the hutong is just 1.5 meters less than the distance from Dongdan to Xidan along Changan Avenue. On the other hand, there are some hutongs constructed with many turns as well. For example there is a hutong at Beixinqiao which possesses more than twenty turns in which later separated into five different hutongs; there is also a hutong at Qianmen with thirteen turns too.

The Longest Hutong

view – Dongjiaominxiang Hutong (3 kilometers)

The Shortest Hutong

view – Yichidajie Hutong (25.2 meters)

The Widest Hutong

view - Lingjing Hutong (the widest section at 32.18 meters)

The Narrowest Hutong

view – Qianshi Hutong (the narrowest section less than 0.4 meters)

Hutong with the Most Amounts of Turns

view – Jiuwan Hutong

The Oldest Hutong

view – Zhuanta Hutong (exists since Yuan Dynasty)

The hutong and siheyuan can be described as the organic part of Beijing city. Beijing will be lifeless without the hutong and siheyuan.

Historical Figures and Hutong

Chengxiang Hutong (Prime Minister Hutong) and Yan Song

Doufucizi Hutong (Toufu Pond Hutong) and Yang Changji & Mao Zedong

Former Residence of Song Qingling

Xiaoyangquan Hutong (Little Sheep Herd Hutong) and Laoshe

Houyuanen Temple Hutong and Mao Dun