by William Black

Visitors to Shichahai, the area north of Behai Park, may believe they have stumbled onto the neighborhood that time nearly forgot. The winding lanes of the old hutongs -- old-style residential areas that still exist in pockets of Beijing -- and the pleasant calm of the three lakes that run past historic houses and buildings resemble a movie set more than a modern city, but a stop here is a chance to see an unvarnished and agreeable side of Beijing life.

Through persistent efforts at preservation, Shichahai remains very much a part of Beijing, but retains the atmosphere of a village surrounded by a metropolis.

This is by no means accidental. Shichahai is home to one of the city's best preserved hutongs, sets of dwellings built along narrow alleyways. Home to long-time Beijing residents, the single-story brick homes are modernized inside, but a trip through the streets immediately conveys distinct sense of culture and community that lives on in these neighborhoods. Sanmiao Street, the oldest hutong (Mongolian for "lane") in Beijing, near the Guohua Shopping Center in the western part of the city, is 900 years old.

Designated as a protected historical and cultural area, the Shichahai section is also home to the Qing Dynasty palace and garden of Prince Gong, the former home of Soong Qingling, wife of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, founder of the first post-imperial government, the Republic of China, in 1911. It gets its name from the three lakes that formed the end of the Grand Canal, an aquatic artery that was a lifeline between Beijing and southern China.

In the hutongs, it is easy to conjure up the past - the narrow streets, the red brick walls enclosing the compounds, the traditional style gates designed to thwart entry of evil spirits are there, but like much in China, they now rest beside many reminders of modern life. Cars are parked there, televisions and karaoke machines have prominent places in people's homes, though traditional home layouts are still the rule.

The best way to see these areas is by tricycle rickshaw, and for the best of the best, the Beijing Hutong Tourist Agency tops the list. Tours vary in length, itinerary and cost, and bilingual guides are available. These tours are an integral part of preserving these areas, no small feat in a city that is changing at a dizzying pace.

In a sense, they are the offspring of a great love affair between a photographer and the streets. Xu Yong, who came to Beijing from southern China as a young man, has been taking pictures of these neighborhoods since the early 1970s, and when asked about his obvious devotion to Shichahai, says simply, "Wo ai Beijing." ("I love Beijing.")

It's not hard to see why.

Standing on the balustrade of the 700-year-old Drum Tower, once the tallest building in the imperial capital, Xu can look down on the narrow streets of the old houses, or catch a glimpse of Beihai Park's striking White Dagoba, or look west to the lakes of Shichahai, and ponder the age when time was told with a water clock and the hour was banged out on a drum to the people below.

Some hutong residents have opened their homes to visitors on the tours, allowing a brief look inside the houses that ring the quiet courtyards. Gray courtyard dwellings stand wall-to-wall on both sides of a hutong, with gates for privacy and to keep spirits away. Some compounds are surprisingly large, with several courtyards separated by rows of one-story houses. Some just have one courtyard, its four sides ringed by dwellings.

When the gates are closed, the courtyard are peaceful and quiet worlds unto themselves, away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Under a traditional arrangement, the south-facing rooms inside are the main rooms, the rooms on the eastern and western sides are called wings, and rooms facing north are called reverse positioned rooms. The main rooms are taller, brighter and better ventilated than other rooms, and traditionally were occupied by the head of a family; children usually lived in the wing rooms; and the reverse positioned rooms served as studies or sitting rooms. Modern life has made a single-family hutong an exception, rather than the rule, but the layouts are still the same, and, say the neighborhood's lifelong residents, so is the tranquillity within.

Beyond the hutongs, the shallow manmade lakes that run from the Second Ring Road to the edge of Beihai Park are a low-key jewel and a welcome respite from the buzz of city streets. Boat tours of Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai lakes are available now, letting visitors indulge in a leisurely circuit of their calm waters. On summer days, their shores attract swimmers, fishermen and people out for a stroll. Some diehard swimmers cut holes in the ice in a year-round pursuit of their sport, though most are content with ice skating when the water freezes over. Early autumn is a perfect time to take a lazy circuit of the lakes, and appreciate an area where urban stress is only a notion.

The China Travel Centre can be reached at 86 - (0) 10 + 8521 9691/2/3 or 5166 1575, or by fax at 86 - (0) 10 +8521 9695.