Foreign fan of Beijing hutongs

Elyse Ribbons.[Photo by Kyle Hodges/chinadaily.com.cn]

"The hutongs are where it's at. That's real China. Because China is all about big family, it's all about knowing your neighbors, and it's wonderful."

Elyse Ribbons, known as Liu Suying in China, found a home in the hutong. An American entrepreneur with a successful career in radio and film, Ribbons was attracted to the hutong where she found acceptance and community.

Hutong Culture

For residents, both foreign and local, Ribbons said the hutongs provide a unique experience when compared to other areas of the city.

"They have more space, more freedom. It's quiet in the hutong. There is no one stomping above my head, there are no annoying elevators to go out of," Ribbons said. "You know all of your neighbors. They've known their neighbors for their whole lifetime."

"You know, you just feel like you're a member of a community. You don't feel like you are a foreign monkey, and that's nice. Because ultimately, any anger you might have at China, it all washes away when you're back with all these people. And so it’s nice to be reminded that you're a person."

Hutong Change

In a city faced with so much progress and development, sometimes historical sites and local neighborhoods can be overlooked. In the past, particularly in the years before the 2008 Olympics, many of the hutongs were torn down or reconstructed.

"Look, if something is reconstructed, it loses its historical value. Once they change it, move anything out, it's not the same. That's what makes a historical place cool and historical and evocative. Other hutongs, they have been torn down and rebuilt for the last ten centuries anyways, so why not keep doing it? The question is whether that makes it impossible for the people to continue to live there," Ribbons said.

"When you don't have a community, you have no soul, and that is the greater problem."

She also mentioned potential changes that could help make living in the hutongs more comfortable.

"The problem with hutongs is that the wealthy Chinese park their cars in them, and feel like they have ownership of the roads, and the transportation through the hutongs is horrible, and it's totally unnecessary. There are no parking spaces in the hutongs. These are public roads, and when people park in them, it takes up other people's space."