A Beijing hutong is a lane between courtyard houses, and the courtyard house is the unit that matters: grey brick walls facing the street, a gate set slightly off centre, and a screen wall inside so nobody can see past the door. Because the houses are private and the walls are continuous, the architectural detail that is visible from the street is concentrated in the gates, the thresholds and the roof lines - which is exactly what makes a walk through the lanes so rewarding with a camera.
What to look for
Start with the gateways. The rank of a household was once readable from the type of gate - a wide gate with a raised roof and a pair of carved stone drums at the sides signalled a senior official, while a simple narrow opening belonged to an ordinary family. Look for the stone drums themselves, worn smooth by hands; for the painted or carved lintel boards above the doorway, some with characters still legible; for the brick screens and the small shrines set into walls; and for the roof ridge ornaments on the better houses. Doorways are also where daily life shows: bicycles, coal briquettes, potted plants, birdcages hung out in the morning, and red paper couplets pasted either side of the door at New Year.
Where to walk
The densest surviving lanes are in Dongcheng around the Drum and Bell Towers and to the north of the Forbidden City, and in Xicheng around Shichahai and the White Pagoda. The named commercial streets are busy and photogenic but heavily rebuilt; the better photographs are usually one turn off them, where the lanes narrow and the shops give way to front rooms. Walk a grid rather than a line - go north two blocks, east one, back south - because the lanes connect irregularly and the small courtyards at junctions open up.
Practical notes
These are people's homes. Photograph gates and architecture freely, ask before photographing people, and never walk into a courtyard uninvited - many are shared by several families and are not public space. Early morning gives the best light and the most activity; midday is flat and the lanes are almost empty in summer heat. Stick to the pedestrian lanes and watch for scooters, which come round corners fast and without much warning.
