When we landed in Beijing, our first stop was to the alleys that sold food, souvenirs, and had areas of prayer and socializing... But first we rode the traditional rickshaw cabs!!
The hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences, that are also businesses and temples. Many neighborhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another.
The beautiful part of these neighborhoods is the traditionalism that is maintained from the time of their development during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.
This traditionalism is carried on and throughout the Chinese culture.