Hutong appeared in Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), and the word ¡°hutong¡± originates from the Mongolian word ¡°huto¡± which means water wells. Hutong is the narrow and small alleyways between courtyards¡¯ rows, and courtyard (Sihe Yuan) refers to a square compound with four houses built on each side. Beijing¡¯s hutong accounted for about 3000, and there is also an old saying to describe the numberless hutong ¡°There are 360 hutong with names and those without names are as many as hairs on an ox¡±.