The final stop on today's adventure was a tour of a Hutong. The word Hutong comes from Mongolian which means "well" for water. Now, the word is used to identify the traditional neighborhoods of the Chinese cities.
In Beijing, many of these neighborhoods have been replaced by modern high-rise buildings. However, the Chinese government is now making an effort to preserve a number of these neighborhoods. Today we got to tour the one that surrounds the Beijing Bell Tower. This is a high desirable neighbors due to its location near this tower.
Our tour started with a lunch in a typical Hutong home. Our host, Mrs. Chen, made a wonderful meal that included dumplings, rice, garlic stalks with egg, chicken wings, fried noodles, pork, and a number of other dishes. The other two men were our guides for this trip, Robin and Andy.
After lunch, we toured the Hutong by pedal rickshaw. 
At one point in the trip, I switched places with the driver and had my turn at pedaling the rickshaw.
Halfway through the trip we stopped to visit a factory that made fine porcelain and pottery. This is the master potter creating a vase.
Everyone had a very enjoyable time visiting the Hutong.
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