Hutong Tour
The Hutong tour was a rickshaw ride through the narrow streets (hutongs) of Beijing, a visit to a retirement home, a community center, and a local family. We got to see how every day people live and work in Beijing.
First the rickshaws took us through the narrow neighborhood streets. It was quite slippery and cold, but the rickshaw "drivers" didn't seem to have any problems.
First stop - a retirement center. There is no social security in China, so once you stop working you must rely on your savings or your family to care for you. Here, families board their elders for a fee. The conditions are not the best, but the living conditions for most of Beijing were considerably different than in the United States.
At the community center, some older men painted beautiful calligraphy on rice paper. If you bought a piece, they would write your name in Chinese character on it for you. They were amazingly quick and steady handed.
We noticed many types of doors as we rode through the streets. The door on the left is for a rich family - highly decorated, with lions guarding it. The door on the right is for a poor family.
Notice the tall piece of wood in block the doorway. Nearly every doorway in China has one of these blocks that you must step over to enter the building. These blocks are placed there to keep evil spirits out of the house. I asked how they worked and was told that the evil spirits are very small and can't get over the step!
