Oct. 11th Touring a hutong in Beijing and arriving in Xian

    Hutongs are alleyways with little rooms and houses.  Annie said we would see what Beijing looked like 30 years ago.

We felt sorry for the man who peddled us in the his rickshaw (bicycle powered).  We traveled several blocks and the expected fee was $1.50 U.S.

Neighborhood stores in the hutong

House belonging to Bruce Lee, the martial arts expert.  He prefers to live in the old area.

                 Certain ornate items around the doorways, etc., emphasize one's wealth or "importance."
    We walked many streets through the neighborhood.  Actually, they were like alleys.  We saw parked cars with pieces of plywood covering the tires.  Someone asked if it was to prevent sun damage.  Annie told us it was to keep the dogs from peeing on them.

                                         Even the highrise condo buildings don't have central air.

This little girl was a big hit.  She would "high-five" everyone who passed.  The men in the background are playing Mahjong.

Then we came to the home of a family who allows tour groups to see how they live.  The woman retired from an insurance company and her husband is a retired engineer.  He and his brother have an art business where they do paper cutting artwork.  She earns money by providing tours of their home.  They want to continue to live as they have for years, instead of moving to a condo.  We all sat in the courtyard, an outside area about the size of a large American living room.  They have arbors over them where the family grows grapes, squash, etc.  This area is living area in good weather.  Surrounding it are the various rooms belonging to the family.  This one had a large bedroom for the woman and her husband.  Across the courtyard was the great-grandfather's bedroom.  On one end was the room of the adult children.  A teeny kitchen was on one side, consisting of a butcher block table, a small countertop and a tiny refrigerator.  Two people were cooking.  Next to it was a separate room which is the dining room.  There was no table in there, just stools and a cabinet.  Below is our tour group sitting in the courtyard that is surrounded by the rooms the family uses. 

Short flight to Xian

After being taken to our hotel we had a little free time before attending the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show.  It was more interesting than the opera.  We all had trouble staying awake though.