When people think of the unique characteristics of Beijing the hutong style always comes to mind.It is no exaggeration  to say within hutong lives the city's history. The word hutong was borrowed from the Mongolian word to mean "water well" about 700 years ago.Later it referred to a place where people live.Hutong we see today are made up of small lanes formed by walls of siheyuan.They were built during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, there were more than 3,000 hutong.Most of the city's population lived in this traditional housing.But with the modernization of the city in the 1980s and early 1990s, many hutong were pulled down to build roads, skyscrapers and modern houses. The government has recognized the importance of hutong to Chinese cultural heritage .In 2002, Beijing listed 40 protected historical zones and increased its efforts to restore some key relics and older streets in the city.Nearly 500 hutong have survived. Hutong that still exist are like oases  of calm surrounded by the noisy city.Walking through them, it's common to see groups of elderly citizens sitting together playing cards, mahjong or Chinese chess.In the early mornings and evenings, they gather to practice traditional forms of exercise such as taijiquan as well as dancing and singing folk songs or Peking Opera.Hutong have become a museum of Beijing's folk customs and history. What is the original meaning of the word hutong?
Small lanes. Water well. Siheyuan. A traditional house.