City
Beijing heard and read through courtyards
A Beijing museum presents the sounds of old hutong streets. Two other courtyard museums, at Dongsi and in Lao She’s former home, use buildings and books to show other traces of city life.
At a glance
A place worth remembering
A street remembered in sound
The Beijing municipal site says the Shijia Hutong Museum presents more than 70 historic street sounds, from iron-sheet signals announcing a knife-sharpening vendor to bells announcing a herbalist. It also describes miniature models of 130 courtyards. The sounds preserve a sensory side of neighbourhood life that building plans alone cannot convey.[1]
A courtyard becomes an exhibition
Dongsi Hutong Museum occupies a traditional siheyuan, a four-sided courtyard house. The city describes five exhibition areas and says much of the building’s courtyard structure has been preserved. Visitors can read the form of the home as well as the materials shown inside it.[2]
Rooms connected with a writer
The Lao She Memorial Hall occupies a courtyard home where the writer lived and worked for 16 years. The municipal article says he wrote 24 works during that time, while the wings now display books, photographs and manuscripts.[2]
Good to know
A few clear answers before you explore.
What sounds does Shijia Hutong Museum present?
More than 70 historic sounds, including an iron-sheet signal for a knife-sharpening vendor and bells for a herbalist.[1]
What kind of building houses Dongsi Hutong Museum?
A traditional four-sided courtyard house, or siheyuan.[2]
What appears in the Lao She Memorial Hall wings?
Books, photographs, manuscripts and other personal materials.[2]
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