Coming to the #6! I had introduced the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs and the Forbidden City! They are royal cultural buildings. And today, I would like to introduce HuTong, a representative of the civilian culture!
這個北京之旅好像每篇開章都說北京文化源遠流長，不過北京真的有很深厚的文化歷史，如之前所介紹的長城、十三陵、故宮等，都代表了北京城千年首都的代表建築。而要講到北京的平民文化代表，其中一樣一定是胡同。
The meaning of HuTong is narrow alley, representing the residential area of Beijing. In the ancient Beijing City, it’s a big square with main roads. Between the main roads were those narrow alleys and we called they Hutong. most Hutongs in Beijing were built 800 years ago during the Yuan Dynasty. The origin of the name HuTong is still unknown but one of the guess is interesting: In the ancient time the water of Beijing came from well. So there were many wells in the alleys and the alleys were named after the wells. The mongolian language of “Well” is similar the HuTong.
胡同意指狹窄巷道，是北京人民居住小區的名稱。北京城是一個四方形的大城，內有數條大街，大街之間有數條小巷道，左右有民居，這些巷道就是胡同。北京的胡同大多都是自元朝定居北京時建立，至今八百年歷史了，胡同一詞的來源有數種說法，其中一個比較有趣的是蒙語水井說，以前北京以水井提供食水，故大街小巷很多水井，並以井為名，而水井的蒙語又跟胡同很像，故就稱為胡同了。
To know more about the traditional culture of Beijing, HuTong is a must-go place. After visiting the Forbidden City, we went to the NanLuoGuXiang which was closed to the Forbidden City. NanLuoGuXiang is a very famous HuTong, and one of the oldest place in Beijing. In the 800 years history, NanLuoGuXiang was the place of residence for senior officials, wealthy people, celebrities etc.
要認識北京傳統文化，胡同不能不去，去完故宮後，我們就去了附近的南鑼鼓巷，北京其中一個最有名的胡同。南鑼鼓巷與八條胡同相交，自北京現存最古老地方之一，有八百年歷史。數百年來，由於和紫禁城很接近，故南鑼鼓巷一直是高官、富人、名人等的居住之所，充滿歷史價值。
In the modern time, NanLuoGuXiang has returned to a peaceful old district. But since 1999 the first bar was opened, it gradually became a new bar street. In 2008 Beijing Olympic, the government promoted NanLuoGuXiang, making it the focus of the city, and it was completely changed. In 2009, NanLuoGuXiang was list as one of the “25 must go place in Asia” by Time Magazine.
到了近代，南鑼鼓巷回復了平淡的老區，但自從1999年這裡開設了第一家酒吧，逐漸成為了著名酒吧街。到了2008年北京奧運，政府開始推廣南鑼鼓巷，讓南鑼鼓巷成為全市焦點，改頭換面，變成今天的著名商業街，在2009年更被列入時代周刊25個亞洲必遊之處。
Arriving NanLuoGuXiang, I felt a little bit disappointed. The main road of NanLuoGuXiang is completely commercial. We could only see souvenir stores, restaurants, snacks and coffee shops. I couldn’t find the traditional houses.
終於到了南鑼鼓巷，起初的感覺其實是有點失望的，因為鼓巷的主幹道已被完全商業化了，讓我看不到我想看的傳統民居，路上充滿的是手信店、餐廳、小食店、咖啡店等。
However, I found that the alleys on both side of the main road were different. They were also HuTong, but no tourists. There were introduction of the Hutong on the walls. For the introduction I found many former residences of famous people in history. These Hutongs are the treasure of NanLuoGuXiang.
不過走著走著，卻讓我發現有趣的地方，主幹道兩旁的胡同小巷極為冷清，牆上掛著胡同的介紹，竟遺留著極多歷史名人的故居！只能說，這些小巷才是寶藏所在。
Our route was changed to these Hutong. We found the old house of Qi Baishi (one of the most famous painters of modern China), Mao Dun (one of the most famous novelists of modern China), Chiang Kai-shek (first president of the Republic of China), Empress Wanrong (the last empress of China), etc. But those buildings are now private properties and we were not allowed to visit. At the same time, we saw notices saying “private residence, no visit”. Obviously the tourists greatly affect them.
我們的路線開始轉入這些小胡同，發掘了不少歷史名人的居所，當中包括齊白石、茅盾、蔣介石、還有末代皇后婉容等。可惜的是，這些故居今天都是私人物業，政府無權開放，故我們都不能入內參觀，只能觀看屋子外的介紹牌，同時，很多民居門外都貼了謝絕參觀的告示，看來遊客對居民的影響超大。
The only building I could entered was the former residence of Qi Baishi, which has now been converted into a memorial hall.
我唯一能進入的只有齊白石故居，因現在被改建成紀念館。
According to statistics, the Hutongs of Beijing are destroyed at a rate of dozens per year causing great concern. At the same time, the alleys preserved were commercialised and lost their original value. It’s true that ignoring the economy will be a big expense preserving these HuTongs. But how to balance the profit and the traditional culture? I believe governments of all countries got the same problems.
根據統計，北京的胡同大約以每年數十條的速度消失著，引起重大關注，但同時，被保留保育的胡同，都被改建得商業化而失去原來的味道。誠然，如只注重開發而不顧慮其經濟收益，將會是政府很大的開支，但到底如何同時保留其傳統味道，相信這是各國政府都會重視的問題。
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Thanks for spending your time to read my articles. I like to share stories of Hong Kong. I wish you may support me and I will keep going!
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