watching Peking Opera in Prince Gong's Mansion

Leaving Prince Gong's Mansion, visitors again went by pedicabs and then stopped at the Nanguanfang Lane because it was too narrow for the pedicabs. The had to go on foot from one lane to another looking for signs of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Beijing's hutongs have a long history, starting from the Yuan dynasty. More than 700 years ago, Beijing was an orderly city with all streets and lanes centering the Imperial Palace from north to south and from west to east.

5 Dajinsi Alley was originally the mansion of famous eunuch Li Lianying. In the old days it was as luxurious as Prince Gong's Mansion, but today its past glory was nowhere to be seen. The red paint of the gate has all flaked off. The three-courtyard mansion has been divided in half, one side of which is occupied by 14 households. The compound, occupied by many households, shows tourists the customs, conditions and lingering charm of ordinary Beijingers. While one household prepares meals, frangrance wafts out to other households. The compounded houses all have a festive atmosphere.

learn to make Chinese dumplings

Our visitors were happy after they heard they were to have meals there with the locals.

having a typical Chinese meal

They had dumplings, which symbolizes the family reunion, harmony and auspiciousness at the moment while sending off the old and seeing the new year in. It was hard for the Germans to use chopsticks, but all of them enjoyed the food very much. Some of them even tried strong Chinese liquor, passing it around in turn.

While departing, both host and visitors were reluctant to say good-bye. Later, our visitors sang a song while clapping hands, saying "Dear friends, good-bye. We will see each other again when we come back in the future..." The long hutong recorded the friendship as it has recorded so many things over the centuries.