Chengdu, Sichuan

49. Side Street Alley (Hutong)

I showed you some pictures of the main streets in China with the bike lanes, sidewalks and such. People do not live on those streets. On those streets are only businesses. Here you see where people in the city live. In narrow alleys like this or Hutongs as the Chinese refer to. Often too narrow for cars, these streets are busy with people working, eating, preparing food, sitting outside in their chairs, watching the babies. It is the heart of China. Bernice and I loved to roam these back streets and meet the people. Often they would invite us in for a cup of tea and were most hospitable to us. Much later I discovered what some blue signs in Chinese meant in English. "No foreigners allowed past this point."