从小住在大院里，大院又在胡同里。胡同是老北京的特色，是由一排排传统四合院形成的小巷。上网查看，胡同一般宽度为9米左右。随着城市和房地产的发展，北京的胡同越来越少了，取而代之的是高楼大厦，公寓社区。刚过五一，虽然我疫情期间没有住在大院，但还是接到物业通知，要到街道居委会办理新一代出入证，需要本人一寸照片，户口本和身份证。因此昨天溜出去一趟，看到了胡同是如何管理防疫的。

每个胡同口都有包括保安在内的3-4个人员管理，胡同口安装了手动伸缩门，为防刮风下雨，还建有临时帐篷为工作人员使用。每条胡同只许居民持证进出，访客需登记，胡同内居民或单位的车辆可以驶入，每个人进入前还都要量体温。都5月份了，还是要求挺严的。这边的胡同大概都有700-800米左右长，我没去胡同的那头，估计管理也差不多。如此一来，一条长胡同形成了一个大社区。

市内剩下不多的胡同，为了保持老北京风貌，也是由于拆迁成本已经高得难以接受，不少胡同内的老旧房屋已经统一重新装修外立面，对基础设施也进行了改良。很喜欢现在的风格，不失以往胡同和四合院的特色，同时又注入一些新元素。

来到了社区委员会，以前大院不归这里管，估计是重新划片管理了。妥妥的一个小四合院，大门很传统很有气势，重新翻盖过，还有经典灰砖墙，传统筒瓦和板瓦相间的屋顶；大红色屋门有点耀眼，但还是看着喜庆，阴天里格外为之一振；可惜院子少了门墩和影壁。

居委会的工作老师耐心又体贴，多次提醒身份证户口本和出入证放好，出入证上信息不要太多。问问为啥疫情好转，却又要升级出入证，什么时候不用出入证了，她们说以后可能都要用出入证了，最少两会前后是这样。对于小老百姓，社区管理严格点好呀，小偷坏蛋看你怎么进来。  从居委会出来，发现对面竟然是个国际幼儿园。 

I lived in a compound from my childhood, and the compound locates in an alley (hutong). Hutongs represent an important character of Old Beijing. They are alleys formed by lines of quadrangle dwellings (siheyuans) which are traditional residence courtyard. The width of one Hutong is normally around 9 meters. With the development of the city and real estate business, there are fewer and fewer hutongs left in Beijing. They were replaced by skyscrapers and apartment communities. Although I didn't live in the compound during the epidemic crisis, I received a notice recently from the property management which asked me to go to our community service center to apply for a new access card.  I need to take one-inch photo, Household Register and my ID card as reference information. Therefore, I went out yesterday and experienced how the epidemic prevention was adopted at hutongs. 

Each hutong entrance is managed by 3-4 persons including security guards. A manual retractable door was installed at the hutong entrance. To prevent the bad weather, a temporary tent was built for the staff to use. Each hutong only allows people living or working in this area to enter and exit with a permit. Visitors must register. Vehicles of residents or companies registered in the hutong can drive in. Everyone must take a temperature before entering it. It's May already. The requirements are still very strict. The length of the hutongs here are about 700-800 meters. I didn't go to the other end of the hutong. I believe its management is same. As a result, all residents living along the alley became a large community.

There are not many hutongs left in the city. To keep the hutongs is to protect the styles and features of old Beijing. On the other hand, the cost of house demolition has become unaffordable high. Therefore, many old siheyuan in hutongs have been uniformly renovated and the infrastructure has been improved. I like the current style, without losing the characteristics of hutong and siheyuan, and injecting some new elements at the same time. 

I was impressed when I came to the community service center. I have not been there before. It is a small courtyard with a big gate and classic gray brick walls, traditional tube tiles and plate tiles over the wall. The door’s red color looked to me a bit too bright although it is still rejoicing. It is particularly inspiring in the cloudy day. It's a pity that the gate piers and screen wall are missing.

The staff of the neighborhood committee were very patient and considerate. I asked them why we need to update the access pass under the pandemic situation is getting better and when we don’t need it. They said that we may need it for very long time, at least during the coming national congress annual sessions. I am glad that they continue to manage the community closely to prevent the virus spreading. Not only virus, thieves cannot come in easily either. After coming out of the service center, I found that the opposite yard is an international kindergarten. This hutong has changed a lot!

胡同口检查出入证 (Checking the pass at the entrance of hutong)

公寓社区门口检查出入证 (Checking the pass at the entrance of an apartment community)

参考文章 Reference webpages

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1645085955886154902&wfr=spider&for=pc

https://baike.baidu.com/tashuo/browse/content?id=7aefb4f409d95877f2dc75d4&lemmaId=2930995&fromLemmaModule=pcBottom