Hutong Tour

　The Hutong, it is a Chinese word which comes from came from the Mongolian language about 700 years ago. It originates from the word "hottog" in Mongolian meaning "water well." Where there was a spring or well, there were residents. The word "hottog" became "hutong" after it was introduced into Beijing . Hutong means street, lane and alley, and is in fact the passage formed by lines of siheyuan (quadrangle) where most Beijing residents live. The name literally means a courtyard house, a house enclosed by four walls, called a quadrangle. In Chinese history, the Siheyuan building was the basic system of the building for housing, palaces, temples, and government offices. There are three kinds of Siheyuan - small, medium and big courtyard houses. For small and simple Siheyuan, the main gate is open to the south; the main rooms in the north for grandparents are facing south; the corner rooms for grandchildren; the west rooms and east rooms are for sons or daughters; the rooms by the main gate facing north are used as the living room or studio. For medium and big courtyard houses, there is more than one yard, two, three or even more yards with lots of rooms for some high ranking officials or rich merchants. The layout of a typical courtyard is actually a vivid showcase of traditional Chinese morality. Why such a layout? Well, the four buildings in a single courtyard get different amount of sunlight. The northern rooms receive the most, thus using as the living room and bedroom for the eldest, usually the Siheyuan owner. The eastern and western rooms get less, and used as the rooms for the young or the guests. The southern rooms, just opposite the owner's rooms, get the least sunlight, and usually served as the rooms for service staff or studios. The northern, eastern and western rooms are linked by pretty decorated passages. These passages are used as shelters from the sunshine during the day, and offer a cool shade and have a good view of the courtyard at night. Behind the northern rooms, there would often be an independent building for unmarried daughters. In the old China , unmarried girls were not allowed directly to seen in the public, hence living in the most secret building in the courtyard house. What's more, a Siheyuan has a scientific, human-oriented feature. The wall of the north-western building is normally higher than the other walls to stop the inner building from the cold winds, blowing from the north-west side in the winter. The curved eave helps the accumulated rainwater flow along the curved rather than dropping directly down. The ridge-type rooftop gives much shade to have the rooms escape from the heat in the summer.
　After you finished the reading of the above and your experience of imperial Beijing , in Hutong Tour, what are we going to find? The Siheyuan which is old from 700 years is still used for the local people's living. Not only you could understand imperial live of emperor, but also you will learn about common people's exact life.

　We will transfer you from the hotel to the back door of Beihai Park . The rickshaw with strong guy is waiting for you by the side of the Shichahai Lake and ready to go. It takes you to go through the Silver Ingot Bridge which is called Yinding Bridge , a narrow channel joining Qianhai Lake and the Houhai Lake , the hub of Shichhai area with surrounding quiet hutongs. You may take a photo here, then we will pass the Yandai Xiejie(Tobacco Pipe Street), a quaint 800-year-old hutong located directly north of Yinding Bridge between Qianhai and Houhai and the south of the Drum Tower, used to be well-known for sellers of long-stemmed pipes, hence the name. From far to near, you will reach the Drum Tower . With all your strength, by ascending the 4-meter high and two-story Drum Tower dating from 1420, seeing the big drum tower which could alarm the timing to all the local people in the past, and having bird's eye view of the surrounding communities of Hutongs and Siheyuan - existing traditional Beijing. And from far to close, you will have a free walking along the narrow lane, enter the courtyard, talking with local people, and try to spend a short time to enjoy the Beijing residence's life. Or maybe you like to have a tea break with the Beijing local staff. And you might like to have lunch or dinner with them in their home. By the way, you could see how the local people to prepare their lunch or dinner, and you will have a chance to learn to make dumpling with them together. What a good idea. Bringing with your Beijing local memory, we will transfer you back to your hotel.

　With our help, we hope that you could have a great day in Beijing . During Hutong Tour, we still could offer you three more destinations. One is v isiting the Prince Gong's Mansion: it was once the private living place of He Shen, a favorite minister of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and it was first constructed in 1777. In 1851, the mansion was offered to Prince Gong by Emperor Xianfeng (1851-1862), hence the name. Now it is the most well preserved mansion in Beijing . The other is v isiting the former residence of Mr. Mei Lanfang(1894 - 1961), the best known Beijing Opera master ever, the greatest artist the world, founder of one of the three greatest acting methods created by Shakespeare Stanislavsky and Meilanfang. The last one is visiting the former residence of Soong Chingling(1890-1981), once a garden of one of the Qing Dynasty princes's mansions. She was late Honorary Chairman of the People's Republic of China , who used to be the wife of Dr. Sun Yatsen(1866-1925) who is our outstanding forerunner of the democratic revolution in modern China , be known as "the Mother of China".

Tour Quotation:

  Remark: Tour price should be discussed during 2008 Beijing Olympic period from July to September

Remark: the price will be based on per person

　 All the quotation will be including:

　1. Excellent local guide

　2.  Booking should be one day before

　3.  Domestic transportation
　     * All the ground transfer but if your hotel is too far, you should add the fee for transportation or you like to have a private transportation

　4.  You could choose to have meal with local people or not

　5.  All the quotation is by US Dollars which is based on the rate of Bank of China

　6.  Cancellation policy: Cancellation should be informed three days before departure otherwise should have 30% penalty of total price.

　7.  Payment policy: All the payment should be three days in advance before departure when you received the final confirmation and tickets

　8.  Payment method: cash, credit card and wire transfer

  　  All the quotation will be NOT including:

　1.   International ticket

　2.  Hotel

　3.  Personal Expenses.

　4.  Gratuities, Tips to guides or drivers

　Notes: All the quotation would be changed due to the unexpected reason.