Keeps seeing tourists in Beijing call hutong streets 'dirty' when they're really just old

Ngl it bugs me every time I scroll through travel posts and see people complain about the hutongs in Beijing being 'messy' or 'not clean.' I lived near the Nanluoguxiang area for about 8 months last year and those narrow alleys aren't dirty, they're just old and lived in. The stone paths have years of weather on them, and some of the pipes and wires are exposed because they've been there since the 80s. But tourists step out of a shiny new hotel and expect everything to look like a shopping mall. I actually asked a local shopkeeper about it once and he just laughed and said 'they've been here longer than your country.' It's not about being dirty at all, it's about understanding that a place can be worn down without being neglected. Has anyone else noticed this disconnect, or am I just being too sensitive about it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ruby11d ago

Been there longer than your country" is basically the motto for everything in Asia honestly.

lee73311d ago

Do you really think that's true across the board though? I've lived in Southeast Asia for about six years now, and while old temples and traditions go back way further than the US, most of the modern borders and governments are pretty new. Like, Indonesia as a country is only like 70 years old, younger than my grandparents.