认识胡同 Know about Hutong

小表演：
A small act

甲：请问，去中国银行怎么走？
A: How can I get at Bank of China?

乙：一直往东走。
B: Straight to the east.

旁白：北京人就是这样具有极强的方位意识，给人指路，无需参照物，仅用“东”、“南”、“西”、“北”几个方位词就可把位置说得准确无误。
Aside: You can see that citizens in Beijing have such a strong sense of direction. When they tell people the way, they do need any reference objects. They can tell the exact location by using the few direction words: “east”, “west”, “south” and “north”.

北京有一条最长的胡同——交民巷，就是在中轴线这里分成了东西，东边的叫东交民巷，西边的叫西交民巷，它与长安街平行，全长6．5公里。在明清的地图上称为“东西江米巷”。
The longest hutong in Beijing is Jiaomin Lane, which is divided by this axis line into the east side and the west side. The east side is named East Jiaomin Lane. It is in parallel with Changan Avenue. The total length is 6.5 km. In maps in Ming and Qing Dynasty, it was called “East and West Jiangmi Lane”.

由于历史久远，北京胡同可谓形形色色。这是北京最窄的一条胡同——钱市胡同，位于珠市口大街附近，胡同中最窄的地方只有40厘米宽，两个人相遇时只有侧着身子才能过去。
Because of its long history, we can see all kinds of hutongs today. The narrowest hutong in Beijing, Qianshi hutong, is located near Zhushikou street. The narrowest part of this hutong is only 40 cm. When two people encounter, they have to walk sideways.