Daily Life in the Hutongs Author: Shang Junyi Publisher: Beijing United Publishing Company

Introduction

A Hutong Photo Album with Rich Text Content

Still images and flowing dialects outline Beijing's past

From nearly 300 frames of eternal moments, trace the Hutong years from 1985 to 2010

Following the images, sounds and communication with the past, the trivialities and warmth of life emerge one by one

Looking for childhood, walking into memories, returning to a home filled with the smell of fireworks

☆ Editor's Recommendation

◎ Nearly 300 image slices show the scenery inside and outside the hutong and the various aspects of life in it

This is a photo album about Beijing Hutongs, with nearly 300 photos, which takes us to see the various scenery inside and outside the Hutongs, and also goes deep into the mundane affairs of Hutong life: from children, teenagers to adults and the elderly, showing the style and stories of each age group; from food, clothing, housing, transportation, weddings and funerals, raising a family and raising children, eating, drinking and having fun to making a living, it condenses rich details of life. Under the author's lens, there is no illusory praise for Hutongs, and no avoidance of the hardships and trivialities of life. A picture of Hutong life in the decades since the reform and opening up slowly unfolds.

◎Hearing the Beijing dialect, everything in the past will wake up in the Beijing accent

This photo album is rich in content. The author explains each photo in common Beijing dialect based on his memory when taking the photos, and also annotates some difficult-to-understand dialects. From scene restoration to cultural and historical introduction, it is as if an "old Beijinger" is whispering in our ears, allowing us to walk in the alleys as if we are there, understand the local customs and history of Beijing, feel the vividness of folk oral communication, and experience authentic Beijing dialect expressions, such as "Have you eaten?", "Excuse me," "Porcelain," "How fresh," "Choosing and making trouble," "Knowing everything"... In the thick Beijing accent and rhyme, the people, things, and events of the past will all come alive before our eyes.

About the Author

Shang Junyi was born in Beijing in 1959. He graduated from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts. He started to engage in photography in 1985 and has published his works in photography magazines and participated in photography exhibitions. He was a photojournalist for "Bridge" magazine and has been a freelance photographer since 1992.

His publications include Secret Realms of the Forbidden City, Contemporary Chinese Photography Catalogue - Shang Junyi, and Beijing's Classic Sights. His photography specials include The True Colors of the Hutongs, The Great Wall Rejects the North, Believe and There Is, The Normality of the Chinese People, and A Stroll in the Temple of Heaven Park.