CN-1730876 宝产胡同 Baochan Hutong - a narrow alley of Beijing

Hutongs 胡同 are a type of narrow streets or alleys, commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, most prominently Beijing.

In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan 四合院 (Chinese quadrangles), traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.

Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history.

This postcard shows宝产胡同 Baochan Hutong -this is obviously an old scene.  The postcard came from Aqua-(9 September 2015) Postcrossing.