Hutong means a lane or alley, formed by lines of Quadrangles
where old Beijing residents live, witness the vicissitude of the
city. The gray-tiled houses and deep alleys crossing with each
other in identical appearance like a maze, you will find it much
fun to walk through but be care not to lost yourself. According
to experts, the word Hutong originated from Mongolian language
meaning "well". In ancient times, people tended to gather and
live around wells. So the original meaning of Hutong should be a
place where people gather and live. A 37-metre-wide road was
called an avenue, an 18-metre-wide one was called a street, and
a 9-metre-wide lane was called a Hutong. Most of today's Hutong
were formed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties that followed.
Nobody knows exactly how many Hutongs there are in nowadays
Beijing. But one thing is for sure, if we connected all the
Hutongs together, their total length would even be longer than
the famous Great wall, which is about 4000 miles longer. Or to
make it clear, it c