At the geographic and figurative heart of modern Beijing one can still find a low-lying old city of intricate lanes and courtyard houses known collectively as hutongs. The significance of hutongs, many residents say, lies not just in the crumbling beauty of their once-stately architecture, but in the long-established social network of families and friends, who team about the narrow alleys, poking in and out of open doorways and supporting each other in their daily lives. And while Beijing’s towering skyline rapidly fluctuates to accommodate the city’s ever expanding moneyed classes, it is easy to overlook these ancient neighborhoods, a few of which fall victim to the march of progress each day, especially as the race to modernize before the 2008 Olympic games heats up.

Beijing’s hutongs are a sprawl of narrow alleys and courtyards, of small shops and restaurants, of homes and families. The city’s residents regard them as one of Beijing’s defining, essential characteristics, the heart and soul of the city for centuries. Some hutongs have been standing since their construction under the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1341). Today they are at the heart of an increasingly controversial facet of “progress” and “modernity” in China: what balance should be struck between preserving Beijing’s culturally and historically significant sites, and building a developed, global city in time for the 2008 Olympic Games? Many of Beijing’s surviving hutongs were constructed as residences for both nobility and commoners, arranged so as to emphasize social stratification and the Emperor’s domination over all. Some hutongs are comprised of narrow alleyways and siheyuan complexes, with four houses surrounding a square courtyard. Many years ago a single complex would house one family, a situation much less common since the Cultural Revolution when the government confiscated many such residences for being “aristocratic.” Today it is not uncommon to find several families sharing one courtyard complex in very poor condition.

The word “hutong” means “water well” in a Mongolian dialect. This term indicates that long ago people built their homes surrounding wells, with alleys separating each residence. Today we can observe that the physical layout of the siheyuan still fosters the development of close-knit community support systems and strong relationships between neighbors. It is this type of social support network whose existence is threatened by the destruction of the physical buildings, and the disappearance of this particular facet of Beijing life draws the greatest concern. We at the Hutong to Highrise Project seek to provide hutong residents with the ability to create a photographic memory of a rapidly disappearing lifestyle.