The Gulou hutong...#2 on the still going countdown...

As many adventures there are to have outside of Beijing, there are just as many to have inside the city.  The air ain't pretty, my throat is scratchey from the pollution, its a two pack a day polluted sky but that's a hazard of Beijing livin'.  We go out, enjoying it all the while anyway.

The Gulou hutong is a beautifully redone hutong (alleyway) close to city center.  Here, there are many quirky, local shops (God Save the Streaking), cafes(McDonalds), bars (Pass By) and snack stands (churros!).  Also, high in the sky towers an ancient bell tower and a drum tower.  The China usual: lovely old with the ever changing new.

Looking around, one can always find surprises.  One, for example, is the buildings.  In China, they are always a surprise. Construction is constant, sky cranes bringing more stories to a tall, tall building, new subway lines, maybe the building next door isn't pretty enough.  The hutong is surrounded by such happenings, the neighborhood always changing.

In Beijing, one has endless choices of food; street food is obviously the best choice.  Should we get sweet potatoes cooked on a grill behind a bicyle cart?  Perhaps charred lamb on a stick?  Maybe sour fresh yogurt?  Nope.  Something you can only get in the hutong...
Its a cold, cold day so what better a snack than CHURROS and ICE CREAM!!  Hot fresh churros, hot fudge and soft serve....best snack ever.  Fat and happy.

Dried chrysanthemum flower tea on display outside of a traditional Chinese tea shop.  The hutong holds many  traditional Chinese treasures.  It's a maze of Chinese history. Gulou is, of course, a touristy hutong but, it is a preserved part of China's history and wonderfully enjoyable. Other hutongs throughout the city survive the constant change and construction, though often times, the old alleyways lose to the big dollars.

Just this morning I walked through a beautiful hutong as it awakened in the early morning.  The residents cooking breakfast and street foods for themselves and their stands, dogs and cats hanging with their owners as they get ready for work, laundry hanging next to peeling stone walls. Its oddly quiet in here, but the city is constantly pushing its way in.   The hutongs are one of the most enjoyable things about Beijing.  And that's the truth.