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 Beijing was once protected by incredible walls and fortifications which surrounded the Chinese empire from barbarian invaders. The most impressive of them all, The Great Wall, was built to protect the entire population and its surrounds.

Beijing city was guarded by a smaller but symbolically important city wall, and the citizens within these walls protected their own homes or courtyards with another wall! This elaborate system of fortification is now crumbling and Beijing's city walls have all but disappeared as high rises and ring roads shoot up across the city. What remain is the Hutongs, once the center of life for those banned from the Forbidden City. The word Hutong comes from the Mongolian, meaning "lanes and paths". Beijingeses adapted the Mongol way of life to fit in with their own. They put up walls to fill the small spaces between homes left by the Mongols and created a little privacy for themselves.

Like the rest of the city streets, the Hutongs are surprisingly well ordered. They are also a fascinating and intriguing part of the old city to lose you in for an afternoon. There are more than 7000 Hutongs in Beijing and each has its own unique story. Some Hutongs are named after historical figures (such as the Minister Wen Hutong). Some of them bare the name of a market or a commodity, for example the Golden Fish Hutong. Others originate from local expressions. According to our investigations, the narrowest Hutong in Beijing is only 0.7 meters wide, so if you plan to go exploring make sure you fast the night before! Concentrated areas of Hutongs can be found in the area behind the Great Hall of the People and tours may be available.

Behind these lanes, courtyards or "Siheyuan" are hidden. Except for the door into the Hutong, the courtyards are completely closed off from the outside world and when that door is shut, the courtyard becomes a tranquil haven away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
On the view of the courtyard style: Being composed by yards ring upon ring, from the most classical pattern with single entrance to the large scale of tenements collocated by several or a great amount of courtyards with multi-entrance, which all have their own speciality owing to different dimensions and forms of the building foundation, also the financial resources and fondness of landlords, as well as the technical level of the craftsman being in charge of the construction, and also the pointers by geomancer, not but that all the premises are built under the condition of certain regulations and criterions.

On the view of decoration assembly: In the broad sense, it is very general that the tenements completely encircle the central yard, however, there are a lot of individual adornment parts in specifics in Beijing courtyard, such as the knocker, stone block near the door, Chuihua gate and chimney with traditional features, and etc., which constitute the unique architecture style and building fashion possessed in Beijing courtyard, meanwhile forming the particular regional culture. In those courtyards, all-inclusive mascots are very vivid, for instance, some images of animals, plants, implements, symbols and spiritual beings decorating the yard. These mascots have merged into Beijingers' heart deeply.

The former residences of celebrities and prince palace scattering surround the downtown area are almost relatively genuine courtyards in general speaking, such as the palace of Gong Prince in Qianhai west road. In recent years, more and more skyscrapers have been establishing in Beijing, while the courtyard could be met with hardly gradually, nowadays, there are only two stretches of districts of fairly complete courtyards around the 2nd circle streets in Beijing , thereafter, I'm afraid that it could be no other than watching their visages in TV theatre.