A word " Hutong " which is what the small back streets or lanes of Beijing are called, is anunusual term used only in Beijing and a few northern cities in China, In fact, the word was originally a Han language term, but came from Monggolian roots.In the northern grasslands communities tended to from around wells, so " hot" or "well" in Monggolian, came also to mean a town, and a Hudu or Hudun, variants of it, a camp or village.
Later it was applied to a small street. The sound gradually changed to Hutong. Small streets in Beijing baganbto be called Hutong after the NUZHEN people from the northeast, Who founded the Jin Dynasty, captured the city in 1127 and made it their capital.(their langusge has similaritiesto Mongolian ) The costom became more widespread when the city was the capital of the Yuan Dynasty after the Mongol conquest.
Beijing's history is preserved in the names of its Hutong. Some retain the names of some famous persons who once lived three. such as YongKang Hou Hutong for Prince Yongkang and Wu Liang Daren for his Excellency Wu Liang. Others are named for well-knomn craftsmen or shops, such as Doufu Chen Hutong for a bean vermicelli Liu. There are also lanes with names like Jinyu Hutong (Goldfish), Dengcao Hutong (Lighting Rush), and Shoupa Hutong (handkerchief).
Generally speaking, When one of the winding Hutong makes a major turn, it takes on a new name. In the Qing Danasty (1644-1911), there were total 2077 Hutong; In 1944 There were 3200 Hutong, while in 1970s, three were 1,316 Hutong, in 2001, 800 hutong remained.
The hutong which In the wider ones two buses can Pass, The narrowest spot is the southern end of Gaoxiao Hutong, through which only one person can walk at a time. The longest ,Rongxian (Embroidery Floss) Hutong, is two kilometers long. the shortest is Yichi Dajie (One-foot street), which is actully twenty meters long.
With the development of the city, many hutongs have been demolished to make way for building high rises, Without these hutongs, the memory of the traditional life and culture in beijing will disappear. Therefore the city has set aside designated parts of downtown Beijing as off-limits to urban renovation. these areas include the neighborhoods around the Forbidden City, Beihai Park and the Lama Temple.Experts worry that urban renovation is likely to break the traditional to fathom the life of old Beijing.