摘要
While IMng in Beijing I had the great privi- lege of living in one of the cit3/s most beautiful hutong neighborhoods. Itwas the house my ex-boyfdend grew up in, and his parents were glad to rent it to me during my stay. I loved my home. I loved the sounds of the various hawkers who would roam the narrow streets in the morning--the tea lady, the soymilk man, the scissor sharpener. I grew used to chucking my garbage into the street for the morning pick-up. I became a~ or auntie, to my neighbors＇ children. I watched cdcket fights and complemented old men on their songbirds in the park I shivered through the cold winter with a coal-fired water heater. I stacked piles of cabbage and strings of garlic outside my door. I sidestepped the parade of bell-ringing bicycle rickshaws carrying slack-jawed tourists. I loved every minute of it.
While living in Beijing I had the great privilege of living in one of the city’s most beautiful hutong neighborhoods. It was the house my ex-boyfriend grew up in, and his parents were glad to rent it to me during my stay. I loved my home. I loved the sounds of the various hawkers who would roam the narrow streets in
