Beijing Hutongs in China.

When Helen & David asked if they could guest post about China we had to say yes. Not only is their blog – Not Work Related – one of the most visually pleasing I’ve seen, but the photos are great too! To boot, they’ve currently got some seriously great look recipes up from their time at various cooking schools. If you’re looking for a new blog to add to your must read list – go check them out! See the bottom of this post for all of the ways you can find them online.

With a month in Beijing whilst travelling in China we managed to focus some of our attention on documenting the Hutongs in and around the centre of Beijing. We were living right in the heart of this environment and by the end of our time there we felt like locals ourselves. We’re going to take you through a little exploration of some of the Hutongs you could find yourself walking through if you ever have the Beijing experience…it’s a  real must! You will be presented with a real slice of traditional Beijing life.

Photo courtesy of NotWorkRelated.

Hutongs are very unique narrow streets or alleys formed by traditional courtyard residences called ‘siheyuan’ joining whole neighbourhoods together to live with shared wash and toilet facilities.

Photo courtesy of NotWorkRelated.

Today the number of Hutongs in Beijing has dwindled dramatically and in their place stands new roads, sky-rise apartment blocks and commercial buildings. The Hutongs that are now left have been designated as protected areas and we hope that this remains so. It’s basic living in a modern world whilst still holding close the traditions of the Chinese family, community and Hutong culture.

Photo courtesy of NotWorkRelated.

A man stands on the rooftops over looking community building work whilst old companions huddle in the street and gossip.

Photo courtesy of NotWorkRelated.

 

We found easy access to Hutongs right where we were staying in the Jinjeikou district. You’ll also find accessible Hutongs as you exit from Bei Xin Qiao metro station and getting closer to the Forbidden City you’ll find Nanluoguxiang which is a modernised featured Hutong street housing restaurants, bars and gift shops. We’d recommend this area for a good place to eat but it is very touristy and so prices are higher than more local areas.

Photo courtesy of NotWorkRelated.

Not far from Bei Xin Qiao station you can also visit ‘The Hutong’ which is a cultural exchange organisation offering slices of traditional Chinese culture through events and educational programmes. We did an excellent vegetarian cooking class and a Tai Chi class there. Whist you’re in the area make sure you explore the streets and you’ll get a real taste for Hutong life.

Photo courtesy of NotWorkRelated.

*All photo in this blog post were supplied by Helen & David at NotWorkRelate.

Notworkrelated is a collaboration of two UK photographers Helen and David. Their work-related lives see one as a graphic designer and the other as a fashion and portrait photographer. So far Notworkrelated has provided them with the platform to explore and put their work-related lives on hold whilst they travel around the world…or at least big parts of it!

It is the chance to document what they see, hear, smell, taste and touch and communicate this back to you! So far they have travelled in Asia for 5 months and are set to fly to Los Angeles for a completely different taste of culture in August which will commence the next 8 months of their Notworkrelated lives.

We’re passionate about art and visual communication offering different ways of seeing…we like food, hiking around in our walking boots, festivals and folk! We can be followed on twitter @notworkrelated_

We are David & Helen… Travel, photography, blog.

hello@notworkrelated.co.uk
http://www.notworkrelated.co.uk
http://twitter.com/notworkrelated_

*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website, Nariko’ s Nest Weddings & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

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