jaykennedy1025

Hutongs are are an ancient but slowly disappearing feature of Beijing. A Hutong generally refers to a fairly narrow street lined by Siheyuan (quadrangle and also courtyard houses), which is then linked by other alleys to form a small neighborhood. Beijing hutong become more and more popular with foreigners.
Within 1276, the last of remnants the Song Dynasty were finally destroyed with the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan setup the Yuan Dynasty (basically 1271-1368) and produced his capital in Beijing. The term "Hutong" is said to result from the Mongol word "huto", which means water well, all over which many early Hutongs increased. That name was gradually followed by all residents associated with Beijing hutong tours to mean a small street or alley.
Your houses lining Hutongs are generally called Siheyuan (quadrangle or even courtyard). In Beijing these are generally rectangular compounds, with buildings on all sides. A whole lot of Siheyuan is surrounded just by high walls, with these walls creating a upright passage. The size and level of decoration of Siheyuan in Beijing reflected the social status with the residents, with those of high officials and merchants often big with elaborate decoration, while those with the poor were often crowded with only basic decoration.
1000s of Hutongs were built around the Forbidden City, along with the majority built during this Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Hutongs that high officials resided were closest to the imperial palace and produced in ordered rows with north to south Beijing hutong tour. Lower level businessmen and normal residents lived in crude Hutongs far on the north and south with the Forbidden City. The culture of Beijing Hutong
http://www.beijingimpression.com/beijing-tour/beijing-hutong-tour.shtml