A hutong is a collection of low courtyard houses connected with narrow alleys and passageways. They are traditional Beijing houses, but have mostly been demolished to provide more modern (and usually multi-story) flats.
Some hutongs are now protected from demolition. We were transported into the hutong by pedal-powered rickshaws, and were then given lunch (and a fantastic lunch it was too) by a local family.
The owner kindly passed round his pet crickets for us to look at - they keep them for their sounds, and he told me they usually live for about 100 days.
A little boy and his granny wave to us as we head back to the bus.
