胡同的生活 Life in Hutong

胡同里可以悠闲地晒太阳，可以和左邻右舍一起下下棋，玩玩儿牌，唱唱曲儿，连小宠物们也能在这儿找到他们的朋友。
In hutongs, one can have a leisure sun bathing, or play chess or cards with neighbors, and sing song. Even pets can find their friends here.

Aside from Ellen: you know mostly the people you see outside here are old people who enjoy themselves, but that’s because their children who are the workers of the family have gone off to work.

胡同不仅过去是而且现在仍然是许许多多北京人生息与共的地方，胡同生活既保留了以往的一些传统，也悄然发生了许许多多的变化。
Hutongs were and are still places for residence for many Beijing citizens. The life in hutong keeps some traditions, but also has many changes.

采访清华老师：小的时候经常在胡同里，看见小贩叫卖呀，走街串巷的，觉得特别有意思，那种吆喝声，现在还能在耳边响起来，但现在挺遗憾，就再也看不见了。
Interview with teacher from Tsinghua: In my childhood, I lived in a hutong. I used to hear venders peddling their goods from one hutong to another. Their peddling words were really interesting. Even now I can still remember. It is a pity that I cannot see any of vendors in hutongs any more.

采访民俗专家马铁汉：这个卖菜的一般的喉咙都比较清爽，声音高亢，为什么呢？他这么一吆喝，他让你这一条胡同都能听见，他自己捂着耳朵，有这么一个习惯、姿势，所以一吆喝都是这样，他几十种菜加起来，吆喝的非常丰富，一吆喝这味儿……(学卖菜小贩吆喝）香菜，辣青椒，勾葱，嫩芹菜，扁豆，茄子，黄瓜，家冬瓜，买大海茄，买萝卜，胡萝卜，卞萝卜，嫩芽儿的香椿蒜，好韭菜……您看看，您说您买什么，我这儿应有尽有。
Interview with a folk custom expert Mr. Ma Tiehan: A vegetable vender usually has a clear and resounding voice. Why? Because in this way all people in the hutong could hear him when he peddled. He would cover his ears and use a special gesture when peddling. He would put the names of dozens of vegetables together. （Mr. Ma imitates a peddler’s hawking.) He hawked, “coriander，hot chili, scallion, celery, hyacinth beans, eggplant, cucumber, wax gourd, turnip, carrot, Chinese toon, Chinese chives…. Please take a look. I’ve got everything you want.

旁白：饭馆、商铺也开进了胡同，各种健身娱乐设施也盖在了幽深的胡同中，如今的胡同已不仅仅具有单一的居住功能了。如今，各个服务行业几乎都能在胡同中找到。
Aside: Restaurants and shops have been opened in hutongs. You can also find entertainment and sports facilities in the deep hutongs. Nowadays, residence is not the only function of hutongs. Nowadays, you can find all kinds of shops of service industry in hutongs.

Ellen, the host: This is a Hutong. A Hutong is an alley way or a lane that makes up the old historical parts of Beijing, and the thing I loved about the Hutongs is as you turn off from the huge road full of buses and taxies and cars, you feel this great peace descend. Birds, there’s breeze, there’s the lake. And you really get the feeling of living what it must been like to live in old Beijing.