走进胡同 Walk into Hutong

Host Ellen: Although many of the old houses in Beijing are being taken down in order to provide housing for its residence and to modernize the city, if you walk just a really short walk, from the main street in Beijing Chang'an avenue, you'll discover that you made it right into the middle of this, incredible piece of peace with the history of hundreds of years.

字板一：走进胡同
Board One: Walk into Hutong

旁白：从北京城中喧闹繁华的大道，随意弯进一条小路，你就可以看到另外一种景象：密密地排着的平房，窄窄的小巷，悠闲自在的老百姓……这就来到了北京的“胡同”里。
Aside：If you walk into a small lane from a busy and noisy main road in Beijing, you will be able to see another view: rows of bungalows, narrow alleys and casual Beijing dwellers…. Welcome to Beijing Hutongs.

Ellen Aside: People talk about live in the hutongs, but actually they don’t live in the alleys, they live in the buildings on either side of the alley which is called siheyuan or courtyard houses. They called courtyard houses is because their rooms were built around the courtyard.

旁白：“四合院”是中国民居中历史最悠久，分布最广泛的建筑形式，是汉族民居形式的典型。北京的胡同，实际上就是这大大小小的民居院落之间形成的通道。
Aside：Siheyuan is a form of architecture which has the longest history and covers the vastest area. It is a typical form of Han people’s buildings. Hutongs in Beijing are in fact alleys formed by houses of different sizes.