Goodmorning，LadiesandGentlemen：WelcometoBeijing，andwelcometotoday'sHutongtour!Mynameisxx，youcansimplycallmeGrace.IwasbornandgrewupinHutongarea.TodayI'llshowyouaroundmyneighborhood.Ifyouhaveanyquestions，pleaseletmeknow.Iwilltrymybesttomakeyourstayapleasantandmemorableone!
Firstofall，Iwouldliketostartwiththeterm"Hutong"，H-U-T-O-N-GwhatdoesHutongmean?
Accordingtoexperts，thewordHutongoriginatedfromMongolianlanguagemeaning"Well".Inancienttimes，peopletendedtogatherandlivearoundwells.SotheoriginalmeaningofHutongshouldbe"aplacewherepeoplegatherandlive."AnotherexplanationsaysthatduringtheYuanDynasty，about13thcentury，residentialareasinthecityweredividedintomanydivisions.Betweenthesmallerdivisionswerepassagewaysforpeopletotravelthrough.Andthosepassagewaysalsofunctionedasisolationbeltsagainstfirerisks.InMongolianlanguage，passagewaysofthiskindwerecalledHutong.ButnomatterwhatHutongexactlymeans，onethingisforsure，thatis，HutongfirstappearedinBeijingduringtheYuanDynasty.Intheearly13thcentury，aMongoliantribefromthenorthbecameverystrong.LedbyGenghisKhan，theMongolianoccupiedBeijing，thecapitaloftheJinDynasty.Intheyear1271，KublaKhan，thegrandsonofGenghisKhan，oundedYuanDynastyandsetBeijingasthecapitalcityinthefollowingyear.Unfortunately，theoldcitywascompletelydestroyedduringthewar.Sotheyhadtorebuildit.InoldChina，allthestructuresandroadswererequiredtobesymmetrical.Sothecitywaswelldesigned.First，theyhadtofindacenter，andthenbuiltaregularsquarecity.Thelayoutofthecitywasverymuchlikeachessboard.About50residentialareaswereconstructed，withstraightroadsandHutongsinbetween.Atthetime，therewasacleardefinitionforavenue，streetandHutong.A37-metre-wideroadwascalledanavenue，an18-metre-wideonewascalledastreet，anda9-metre-widelanewascalledaHutong.Mostoftoday'sHutongwereformedduringtheMingandQingDynastiesthatfollowed.NobodyknowsexactlyhowmanyHutongsthereareinnowadaysBeijing.Butonethingisforsure，ifweconnectedalltheHutongstogether，theirtotallengthwouldevenbelongerthanthefamousGreatwall，whichisabout4000mileslonger.Ortomakeitclear，itcouldbuildahighwayfromSeattletoBoston，allacrossAmerica!
TodayyoucanfindvariousHutongswithdifferentshapes，lengthsordirections.Theshortestoneisonly40centimeterswide，whichmeansapersonlikemehastowalksidewaystogetthrough.AndsomeHutongshavemorethan20turns.Withthegrowthofthepopulation，manyoldHutongshavedisappearedtomakewayforhigh-riseapartments.TodayI'mveryhappytoshowyousomewell-preservedHutongs，andtoletyouexperiencethetypicalChineselife.Areyouready?Let'sgo!
AswewalkthroughtheHutongs，youmayfindmostofthemlookalmostthesamewithgray-coloredwallsandbricks.Actuallyinsidethosewallsarethecourtyardhouses，wherepeoplelive.InChinesewecallthem"siheyuan"."Si"literallymeansfour，"he"meanstosurround，and"yuan"referstothecourtyard.Soarectangularwallenclosingfourhouses，onebuiltoneachsidefacingintothecenter，iscalledaSiheyuan.Whentheywerefirstbuilt，usuallyoneSiheyuanwasownedbyonlyonefamily，butnowadays，withthegrowthofthepopulation，mostSiheyuansaresharedby4to10families.
ThegatebuildingofeachSiheyuanistheonlythingthatwecanseealongtheHutongs.Chinesepeopleusedtotrytoprotecttheirprivacyfrombeingintrudedbystrangers.Sothegatebuilding，inoldtimes，wasasymboltoshowthepositionofeachhouseowner.Youdon'thavetogoinsidethecourtyard.Justlookatthegatebuilding，youcanalreadytellwhetherit'saninfluentialfamilyornot.
Lookatthisone，thegatebuildingisbigandtall.Theheadandeaveofthegatearewelldecoratedwithbrickcarvings.Seethedesign?Plumblossomsandbamboos.Itindicatedthattheoriginalownerofthiscourtyardmusthavebeenanofficialservingintheemperor'scourt.Butlookatthatonenestdoor，ithastheliondesign，becausethatownerusedtobeamilitaryofficer.Interesting?
Nowlet'sseethedoorway.Almosteverydoorwayhasathreshold，thathighstepoverthere.RememberwesawsomeyesterdayintheForbiddenCityandtheSummerPalace?Forwhatreasontheyputabigstepatthedoor?
YouknowChinesepeoplebelievealltheevilspiritsareshort.Theycannotjumpoverhighsteps.Sothethresholdisactuallyforwardingoffevilspirits.Thesetwopiecesofstonebythethresholdarealsodecorationsforthegatebuilding.Likethesetwo，shapedlikedrums.Theyarecalleddrumstones.Onthetoparecarvedreclininglions，andonthefront，rightandleftsidesarecarvedabatholdinganancientcoininitsmouth.YouknowChinesepeoplelikebatsverymuch，becausebatinourlanguagesharesthesamepronunciationwith"fortune"。Sothispatternmeansgoodfortuneisrightbeforeyou.Somegatepillowsarerectangularinshape，whichmeanstheyareyoungerthanthedrumstones.Theywereonlybuiltintherecent100years，mainlyforsmall-and-medium-scalecourtyards.Andtheirpatternsareusuallyflowersandmascots.
Inoldtimes，transportationwasnotasconvenientastoday，sostreetvendorsplayedaveryimportantroleinHutonglife.Theywanderedfromlanetolanesellingvariousgoodsorprovidingallkindofservices.Peoplecouldjudgethegoodsorservicesfromtheirpeddlingorthesoundsoftheirspecialinstruments.Thefoodtheysoldusuallyincludebakedpancakes，seasonedmilletmush，orYouzhaguo，akindofdeep-friedtwisteddoughsticks，andallkindsofvegetables.
Abarberneverpeddles.Withhisinstrumentbeingabigpairofscissorsandanironingstick，hecouldn'tlosefocusandmakeawrongcut.Butnow，withmodernlifeallaround，includingofcourseMichaelJackson'ssongs，it'shardforpeopletohearthetraditionalmelodioushawking.Lookatthecrowdsittingoverthere!Whatdoyouthinktheyaredoing?TalkingaboutVicTanny?
Oprah's?Orjustgossiping?Anyideas?Let'sgoandsee!
Oh，theyarebuildinganewGreatWall.ButtheirbricksareChineseMahjong!AverypopularpastimeamongtheHutongpeople，especiallyamongtheseniorcitizenswhohaveretired.Youprobablywonderwhysomeseniorcitizensovertherearewearingred-coloredarmbands.Theyareactuallythevoluntaryneighborhoodwatch.Andtheirarmbandssay“OnDuty”。Ifyouthinktheyaretoooldtobeaprofessionalsecurityguard，youarewrong.Believeme，justbecauseoftheselovelyGrandmas，thisareahasbeenapeacefulandsafeplaceformanyyears.Andifyoudon'tbelieveit，you'dbetternottestthem!
ThemainattractionofHutonglifeisfriendlyandinterpersonalcommunication.Childrenlivinginonecourtyardplaytogetherandgrowuptogetherlikeonebigfamily.SonowourgovernmentistryingtopreservesuchHutongareainBeijing.Withoutpermission，nobodyisallowedtoteardownoldhousestobuildhigh-riseapartments.WewanttosaveitasatreasuretoshowourlatergenerationswhatBeijingusedtobelike.
OK.Timefiles.It'salmosttheendofthetour.Today，throughourHutongtour，youhavelearntalotaboutourtraditionalChinesehousesandwayoflife.
IhopeyouarenotonlyhappywithwhatyouhaveseenbutalsogetabetterunderstandingofthecultureandpeopleintheHutongarea.Idohope，oneday，youwillcomebackagain，Iwillinviteyoutomyhome!
Thankyouforyourattention，andhopeyouenjoytherestofthetourinChina!