Huangmi Hutong has a dead end, so the city-walk participants turned back and wove their way through Xiao Qudeng Hutong and Da Qudeng Hutong. No. 9 Da Qudeng Hutong contains a large courtyard originally owned by a nobleman in the Qing Dynasty. It is called Gege Fu, which refers to the home of Qing princes. The courtyard has been turned into a restaurant that serves Qing-style banquets.
Institutions in the Imperial City
From Huangchenggen Relics Park, the 90 Percent Travel group entered the Imperial City. There used to be a city wall that separated the Inner City from the Imperial City and served as a boundary between royalty and commoners. The wall was torn down during the Republic of China period and now there is nothing that marks the line between the old city’s two parts. Most structures in the Imperial City were buildings like temples, government offices and warehouses. It also contained gardens and hunting fields.
The tour’s first stop was Songzh Temple. Built during Qing, it served as a place of worship for Hutuktu, or “the Living Buddha” to Inner MongoliansThe temple is closed and most of its buildings have been torn down. But from surrounding hutong, visitors can still see the temple’s magnificent upper halls.Next stop was Sanyanjing, or three-mouthed well, Hutong. It is said to have served as a source of water for the imperial palace during Qing.
People who look closely will find on Sanyanjing’s wall a section with carvings on refined bricks. The bricks, and some stones, have sealed up what used to be a door. The carvings are on the articles of the Eight Immortals of ancient China, also calld the “Secret Eight Immortals,” in which sword is referred to as Lu Dongbing and lotus He Xiangu.No. 61 Sanyanjing is a famous courtyard ?Mao Zedong’s residence when he worked at the Beijing University library in 191. He later moved to No. 8 Ji’ansuo Zuo Xiang, an alley connected to Sanyanjing. Ji’ansuo used to house a morgue for the imperial family in the Ming Dynasty. The place now houses an army camp with high walls and wire feces.
