Mao'er Hutong

Mao'er Hutong is located in the northwest of Dongcheng District, east links Nanluoguxiang, west connects Beijing's dragon vein - Di'anmen central axis. It is a very famous alley among Beijing surviving 25 protected areas in the alley. It was called Zitong Temple Wenchang Palace during Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), known as the Mao'er Hutong since Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Wenchang Palace is a place dedicated to Wenchang Emperor, that is the Wenquxing who is a god in charge of the literary according to the myths and legends.

Mao'er Hutong has a total length of 585 meters, a width of 7 meters. It doesn't have the loneliness of the usual old street and lane; its both ends connect with the bustling streets and cars shuttle inside the alley from time to time. In the dense avenue, the stylish cars and the old tricycle interlace between the red gate and gray walls, which dimly reveals a remarkable status of Mao'er Hutong.

Mao'er Hutong has numerous old track, celebrities, and stories. The original No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 (now No. 7, No. 9, No. 11, No. 13, No.15) in this hutong turned out to be a building group composed by two mansions. The East and West mansions both have a garden. The east garden is the Keyuan Garden, which is a private garden of the Qing dynasty and is a large courtyard imitates Suzhou Humble Administrator's Garden and Lion Grove.

Although the centuries-old Mao'er Hutong has experienced destruction by time, the alley is still preserved in its original style. Each courtyard has a long history here. Inside the courtyard, there is always an old tree, or jujube tree, or cypress, or locust tree. In the hot summer, the old people will sit in the shade and shake their hand fans to chat with each other, the children will play at the gate, how happy and leisure such situation is.