I decided to upload photos from my travels. This new small project will kick off today with pictures from Beijing, China. The theme of this gallery is “Beijing Hutongs.” According to ChinaVista.com, a hutong is
an ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where hutongs run into the several thousand. Surrounding the Forbidden City, many were built during the Yuan (1206-1341), Ming(1368-1628) and Qing(1644-1908) dynasties. In the prime of these dynasties the emperors, in order to establish supreme power for themselves, planned the city and arranged the residential areas according to the etiquette systems of the Zhou Dynasty. The center of the city of Beijing was the royal palace — the Forbidden City. […]The main buildings in the hutong were almost all quadrangles–a building complex formed by four houses around a quadrangular courtyard. The quadrangles varied in size and design according to the social status of the residents.
I met a tone of interesting people today and the pictures will definitely reflect that. On a personal note, I must confess that I’ve been charmed by Beijing. Once I get to Hong Kong, I will upload some short movies as well. I have to postpone this for now since youtube is banned from China.
Until the next time
Codrin
