Hutong

The hutong area is the older part of Beijing. The houses are built with a courtyard and are only one story tall. This dates back to when the emperor was the only one to have more than one story on a home and was to show respect to him. We saw the drum tower and the bell tower on the opposite side of an open square. The bell was to call people to work and the drums to send them home or maybe to call the people together--I can't remember. Now it seems these are used only at the Chinese New Year.

We got to ride in rickshaws around the area with our tour guide Amy. She did a fabulous job of showing us the hutong. Some say it is a desirable place to live because it is close to the Forbidden City but the young seem to want to live in the high rises. There are both rich and poor living in the hutong. The wealthy show their wealth by the entrance--beams, red doors, and the interior belongs to one family. The poor may have 6 families living in the same space. And they all share a public bathroom. We visited one home--it had tile floors and tiny apartment sized kitchen, living space, 2 bedrooms, and a wash room all in a u shape around a courtyard. They had an amazing amount of cats (like 8) and birds and a dog that comes to their house to eat. The family has had this home for 3 generations. Because one family lives there I am thinking that they are the wealthy though I didn't see their door.

There is all kinds of construction happening down there--bricks and bags of mortar stacked in the narrow streets. The rickshaws, bicycles, pedestrians and cars make for an interesting travel experience. We would post pictures of us in the rickshaws but we didn't bring the camera cord. Look for those when we find a cord or when we come back--sorry about that!

We also toured a porcelain museum. It is better than it sounds. We watched a man making the pottery, saw some drying, some in the middle of being designed, some being painted, and many that were completed. Many beautiful examples of porcelain vases and tea sets. On our way out we had our names written in Chinese characters--very beautiful.

We had lunch at an upscale Chinese restaurant. At one time only the top government officials were allowed to eat there. It was a great meal and we were able to share it with another family who is adopting. They are adopting an 8 year old boy. It was neat to hear their story and get to know them a little bit.

We rested, swam, had dinner (at a Chinese Pizza Hut--nothing like the one in Sandpoint), went for a walk and are winding down for the night. Tomorrow we are off for a full day of touring. We go to the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the pearl market, and more. We have the batteries on the camera charged up and ready to go.

Hopefully we can find a way to get those on the computer. As a side note Craig and I went to the Beijing "walmart" tonight and it was a crazy good time! It was crowded with people, noisy, and really interesting. Glad we did it even if our solution to the camera cord wasn't there.

Thanks for your comments! We love to get them. It is nice to know you are reading and it makes us feel connected to home.