北京的胡同大部分建於13到19世紀的元、明、清三個朝代。
Acc to experts, the word hutong inated from mongolian language meaning“well”.
專家認為，“胡同”這個詞來源於蒙古語，意思是“井”。
So the inal meaning of Hutong should be“a place where people gather and live.”
古時候人們生活和聚集在井的周圍，所以“胡同”一詞的本意應是“人們生活聚集的地方”。
Hutong first appeared in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty.
胡同在北京第一次出現是在元朝。
With the growth of the population, many old Hutongs have disappeared to make way fh-ri apartments.
隨著人口的增長，一些老胡同被拔地而起的高樓取代。
Most of today’s Hutong were formed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties that followed.
今天我們看到的大多數胡同是明清兩代的產物。
Nobody knows exactly how many Hutongs there are in nowadays Beijing.
沒有人能夠確切地說出北京有多少胡同。
Or to make it clear, it could build a highway from Seattle to Boston, all across America.
說得更清楚些，相當於從西雅圖修一條高速路直達波士頓，這可是橫穿美國大陸啊！
Today you find various Hutongs with different shapes, lengths or dires.
今天您可以發現不同形狀、長度和方向的胡同。
The shortest one is only 40 timeters wide.
最窄的胡同僅40厘米寬。
And some Hutongs have more than 20 turns.
還有些胡同有20多個彎。
As we walk through the Hutongs, you may find most of them look almost the same with gray-colored walls and bricks.
當我們進入胡同時，您也許會發現幾乎所有的牆和磚都是灰色的。
Actually iho walls are the courtyard hous, where people live. In e we call them “siheyuan”.
其實，在這些牆的後麵就是居民的家，我們稱其為“四合院”。
“Si”literally means four,“he”means to surround,and“yuan”refers to the courtyard.
“四”的字麵意思是4，“合”就是圍起來，而“院”就是後院的意思。
So a regular wall enclosing four hous, one built on each side fag into the ter,is called a Siheyuan.
也就是一個長方形的圍牆圍著四間屋子，每間屋子的門朝著院子中間。
When they were first built, usually one Siheyuan was owned by only one family, but nowadays, with the growth of the population, most Siheyuans are shared by 4 to 10 families.
過去，一個四合院隻屬於一個家庭，而現在隨著人口的增長，大多數四合院住四至十戶人家。
Hutongs are the tless little alleyways that ect the courtyards of traditional hous.
胡同是無數條連接北京四合院的小巷子。
The hutongs not only link Beijing’s streets and unities but also its past and prent.
胡同不僅連通了北京的街道和社區，它還聯係著北京的過去和現在。
Hutongs are still an integral part of Beijing life.
胡同仍然是北京生活的一部分。
Or wander dxian-the lo hutong at 2 km or squeeze through Qiahe narrowest at only 40 cm wide!
或徜徉在長達兩公裏的絨線胡同，或側身擠過最窄處隻有40厘米的錢舍胡同。
As they offer the travelers a rare glimp into a’s fasating past.
因為透過這難得一見的胡同，遊客能看到中國引人入勝的過去。