The 5 most Interesting Facts about Hutongs in Beijing

The centre of Beijing is crossed with a grid of many hundreds of small lanes and alleyways. These are called hutongs and their layout dates originally from the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century. The number of hutongs in the city peaked in the 1950s at around 6000. Today, however, there are considerably less and more are disappearing each day because of the high premium on land and the rapid redevelopment of the city.However, it is still possible to find and explore many fine hutongs (Book Hutong tour with us). Here are several interesting facts about Beijing`s Hutongs.

Beixinqiao Hutong has the most turns
Among the numerous hutongs in Beijing, Beixinqiao Hutong has the most turns. There
are more than 20 in which you can easily get lost.

The narrowest is Qian Shi Hutong
The narrowest is Qian Shi Hutong (Money Market Hutong),located in Zhubao Shi Streetoutside the Front Gate. The narrowest part is merely 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide, so when two people meet, they must turn sideways to pass each other.

The longest one is Dong Jiaomin Hutong
The longest one is Dong Jiaomin Hutong, with a total length of 6.5 kilometers (4 miles), lying between Chang’an Avenue and East Street and West Street of the Front
Gate.

The shortest one is Guantong Hutong
The shortest one is Guantong Hutong measuring about 30 meters (33 yards).

The oldest Hutong is Zhuan Ta Hutong
The oldest Hutong is Zhuan Ta Hutong which already existed since Yu Dynasty.with a history of 700 years old.