The Hutong

The neighbourhood of our courtyard hotel is a working one. The hotel itself is in the hutong off the main street, a narrow alleyway that cars drive down at unlikely speeds, dodging the heavy traffic of pedestrians and bicycles. Doorways, some inconspicuous, others lavishly decorated, lead to all shapes of courtyards, each of which has become more dense as the city has grown.

The main street itself is a concentration of electrical and refrigeration supply and repair shops. The repairs are often performed right out on the sidewalk.

The bike lanes are interesting to observe and dangerous to navigate. Either side of the road has a separated lane dedicated for bikes. In theory. In practice there's a steady stream of bikes, electric bike, motorcycles, three wheeled motorcycle contraptions carrying construction supplies, families, cargo. Just about anything, most of it highly improbable.

Dangerous as it is, the neighbourhood is terribly charming. Very much alive.

We finished off the day with tourist targeted Kung Fu show. Very professionally produced, incredibly athletic performance, and highly predictable story line. Still it was fun. And an interesting lesson for the kids on how to fight your way off of a jam packed subway train.