Beijing's fast-disappearing hutongs - tight, labyrinth alleyways lined with courtyard houses - are a must-see. Take a Hutong Tour by pedicab from Houhai Lake in Dongcheng around some of Beijing's most beautiful remaining houses.
Hutongs developed around the Forbidden City as early as the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Imperial kinsmen and senior figures would be in the grander hutongs to the east and west, while working folk would be in the humbler ones to the north and south.
The hutongs follow a rigid quadrangular layout, with four buildings arranged around an open inner courtyard. There were 3600 hutongs at the beginning of this century. There are now just 2000.