My better half grew up in a hutong a stone's throw from revolutionary writer Lu Xun's first home near the Forbidden City. My mother-in-law still lives in the old courtyard house at Caishikou, a home where she has spent the better part of 90 years.

Every weekend we visit, I see changes taking place all around us. An office tower casts a dark shadow on the alley from the southwest corner, and the metro station is at the doorstep, with more digging going on to expand the line.

Across the road, a housing development has replaced the row of ancient single-story houses that used to sell tripe and liver soup, and mutton-shank hotpots. They also provided outdated services such as knife-sharpening and cobbling shoes.