Hutong

Steve was living in a hutong just like these until a few weeks ago. I may spend some time there before his lease runs out, just to soak up the communal toilets, hubbub and sound of things happening only a few feet away.

They have the most amazing 'CONTACT' here - if only I had this for my schoolbooks in Year 4.

The communal public gym facilities are outstanding. Old people use them at sunrise and sunset, which is perhaps the reason why so many of them are in good shape as they approach their centenary. Who do they get a letter from, I wonder?

This car was wedged between 2 huntong (alleyways) that could never fit something as big as this. So my guess is it's been here for about 30 years untouched.

Most local shops have little red phones for making local calls - phones (as well as your own toilet) are still an unusual sight in hutong - but these orqange public phones are everywhere too. Turn them upside down and they'd make pretty good 70's loveseats.

The view from a local bar on top of a building shows you just how much construction is going on day and night around us.