Nanlucaoyuan Hutong, August 2006. A man gets his hair cut at the doorstep while two women chat just a few steps away.[Photo by Bai Hao/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Other than Prince Gong's Mansion in the city's Xicheng district, none of the houses are open for tourism. Most such premises are used by the military and such public institutions as schools.

As a technician of China Central Television, Bai sometimes has easier access than the public to such spots, but he is often confronted with locked doors. Security guards even mistakenly turned him over to police.

Bai's cultural exploration coincided with the fall of Beijing's hutong areas.

According to the Beijing Institute of Survey and Mapping, there were 2,242 alleys in Beijing in 1990, but the number was 1,353 in 2005.