A who's who of hutong

BEIJING - As most of his colleagues took up new exercises, played chess or traveled in retirement, Shu Shizhong chose to stroll along Beijing's hutong, the ancient narrow alleys commonly associated with Beijing.

From 1987 to 2002, Shu visited all hutong that he knew of, and in the years since has drawn 30 maps showing the intricate hutong locations and layouts in Beijing.

Now, more than half of the hutong Shu visited have vanished in the process of urbanization.