We aren't in Kansas anymore....

This building was built specifically for the Olympics in 2008...it is called the Birds Nest

Street vendors selling sweet potatoes and roasted chestnuts....which made me sing Angela one of my favorite Christmas songs.  She said she had never heard it. :)

A rick shaw ride through the hutong.  This man was from Gansu province and only gets to see his family like once a year.

What is a hutong? It is an alleyway and all of these doorways off the alleyway lead to courtyard surrounded by rooms.  The hutongs were originally built by the Emperor to house the generals and army officials around the Forbidden City...so that they could get there quickly. No one else was allowed to live there. There are over 4,000 hutongs residences still in Beijing and it is something like I have never seen before.  The old people believe in feung sway (sp?) and that living on the ground/soil is healthier.  So many people have to live in high rises that these are very south after.  This hutong Angela said would cost $3 million U S Dollars! So these hutongs are for the wealthy!  It blew me away....we are definitely not in Kansas any more!  This is the real China.

The honeymoon room in the hutong! :) LOL!

There is a big courtyard and 4 buildings.  The building on the north is for the elderly or owners because of the way the sun sets and rises it is cool in the summer and hot in the winter.  The building on the south is for the servants because it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter.  The building on the east is for the son and the building on the west is for the daughter.

 A typical bedroom.

The hutong dining room...she made the men sit in the throne chairs. :)

The owners talking outside their home. 

The kitchen

The doorway to the courtyard