The area to the southeast of the Lama Temple is where our Cultural Trail started. Our goal is to encourage more people to explore cultural trails in Beijing. We use text and photos to present this trail, using oral history as the primary source of information. Our aim is not only to introduce the history of structures, but also to show how architecture is used and how it is a repository for both memory and daily life.

There are many ways to collect information. We use oral history not only because it can provide first-hand information, but more importantly because we find it a very good way to communicate with community members. Through collecting oral history, we got to know many residents living in the neighborhood, we gained trust from many locals, and we came to realize how the value of a piece of architecture is fulfilled.

Through collecting oral history, making the transcriptions and writing the articles, we are reassured about who we are protecting historic districts for and who are the ones to decide the future of a community. For instance when we were working on the piece about the Horse-God Temple, we learned that for some people, a house is not just a shelter, every brick is full of sounds, smells and stories. In a space like this, memories become alive again, emotions can be released little by little. Who has the right to say that people living here cannot decide the future of their own community? 

Certainly, we did not figure all this out the first time we talked to the community members. Folk living in hutongs have their own way of talking, especially those who have lived here for 50 years or longer. They will not tell you how much they love the place, but they will tell you stories about the place. Their affection is encoded in these stories.

On this cultural trail we chose six sites. Cycling or walking is the best way to get from one place to the next. We chose these six places because they have similar yet rather different values. Among them there is a national level protected historic site and a municipal level protected courtyard, but most of the structures have nothing to do with the term “Historic Site.” We chose them because they have been for such a long time so close to the lives of the community members.

We give the names of those who made direct contributions to the articles at the bottom of each piece. Here we want to thank some of our volunteers. They are Helja, Gabriele Quaglia, Yann, Varvara Shavrova, Rory McGowan, Wang Yi and Shi Yueyu. They were volunteers of our Friends of Old Beijing Project during its first phase. Their careful research in the neighborhood of the Lama Temple and the Confucius Temple provided materials and resources for our further research in the area. We especially want to thank Helja, Gabriele and Wang Yi who have come to our office to share their research results many times. Gabriele also invited his friend Ed Lanfranco to help us with historical research. We want to thank Ed as well.

Maja Linnemann, Anu Leinonen and Brandon Webb were also Friends of Old Beijing volunteers during the first phase. They contributed a lot of research for our Cultural Trail project. Christian Gagnon, Soomin Ryu, Fang Lin and Feng Haochen were our summer interns who also contributed much to the project. We want to thank the following volunteers who participated in collecting material and research for this cultural trail. They are Cui Jiahua, Liu Jingqiu, Ding Jun, Gong Li, Xie Li, and Liu Chang. We want to thank Luo Hao from ADB Design Studio who designed a wonderful map for this cultural trail. Last but not least, we want to thank those who translated and are translating and polishing these articles for us. Since the translation is still in progress, we will list all their names when the translation is finished.

Thank you all. Your participation has helped bring the fist cultural trail into being.