New Construction Crowding Out Beijing’s Hutongs – Anthony Kuhn

From NPR (link):

Fifty years ago, Beijing had 3,000 hutongs — narrow alleys flanked by old, one-story houses and crowded with people. Some of the alley communities have existed for 800 years. But as Beijing modernizes, the alleys are being displaced by shopping centers, hotels and office towers. Now 1,000 are left.