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Beijing
Hutong
In a region formerly protected by the
Great Wall, Beijing was also once hidden
behind its own city walls. And within
the city walls were its citizens, each
with a wall built around their own homes
and courtyards, or siheyuan.
Hutong |
Today, ring roads and walls of high-rise
buildings have taken over the function
of city wall, itself a victim of town
planning. In the city centre, the faceless
buildings of the 1950s protect an inner
core of a labyrinth of crumbling old grey
alleyways, some dating back several centuries.
There are the hutong. Once the centre
of life for Beijingers living outside
the Imperial Palace, hutong are fast disappearing
to make way for roads, business parks
and high rises.
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