According to research, it originates from the word hottog in Mongolian meaning " water well". Where there was a spring or well, there were residents.
The word hottog became hutong after it was introduced into Beijing. Hutong means street, lane and alley, and is in fact the passage formed by lines of siheyuan (a compound with houses around a courtyard ) where most Beijing residents live. One hutong connects with another, and siheyuan connects with siheyuan, to form a block, and blocks join with blocks to form the whole city.
In old China, there was a clear definition for a street or a lane. A 36-meter-wide road was called a big street.
An 18-meter-wide one was called a small street. And a 9-meter-wide lane was called a Hutong. Most of the hutongs in Beijing are in east-west or north-south directions.
That has resulted from the need for houses to face south so as to take in more sunshine and resist cold wind from the north. Of course there are also slant hutongs, half hutongs or " blind hutongs".
Some are hutongs within hutongs, and some are like maze. So to walk in a hutong is a great fun as ling as you are not afraid of getting lost.
