When a hutong helps bring back memories

During the Spring Festival this year, Wang Wei, 37, drove for two hours with her husband and 10-year-old son from their villa in northern Beijing to a narrow hutong near Niujie Mosque, to join in her family in celebrating the traditional festival. It's a 20-square-meter house in a courtyard, where her parents live. Her younger brother, Wang Ran, 32, who works for an Internet company in Beijing, also came back to the house with his family to join in the dinner.

"I tried to persuade my parents to spend the holiday at our house, which is bigger and much more comfortable, but they refused. The reason: They cherish the past," says Wang Wei. "It has become a family tradition. My parents still keep our old clothes and toys. They visit our old neighbors regularly, though some of them have moved to other districts of the capital."

As Wang Wei's father, Wang Lide, 66, who was a bus driver, says: "They have grown up and have new types of entertainment but I ask them to come back here to see us, to see the hutong.