While the world celebrates Beijing's imperial grandeur, Hou Lei, a 43-year-old researcher, is busy documenting the city's easily forgotten details: a neglected jockey club, the specific taste of fermented tofu, and stories of elderly residents who once assisted great historians.
"If local writers don't record these smallest and most hidden details, they will disappear," Hou said. A strikingly overlooked part of Beijing's history is horse racing, which few people know once thrived in the city center. Dating back to the Yuan Dynasty, it became an international sport by the 1920s and was a popular entertainment.
Hou is renowned for uncovering overlooked details, focusing on ordinary Beijingers' daily lives. In his Spring Festival-related books and lectures, he highlights little-seen traditions, including four essential dishes: mustard root, stir-fried pickled cucumber, tofu with fermented black beans, and roupidong. "These modest dishes mattered," Hou said. "Even the poorest families ensured they were on the table."
With his family living in Beijing for over 150 years, he still resides in a hutong to conduct research, often walking alleyways to photograph celebrities' former residences and collect stories. On one such walk, Hou met an elderly man who told him he had once assisted historian Gu Jiegang (1893-1980) and was still dedicated to preserving his research. "That encounter reinforced my belief that Beijing's hutong are treasure," Hou said.
As the author of Beijing Smoke-like Trees and The Record of Beijing's Prosperity, Hou has also recently edited Anecdotes of the Yan Capital, a collection of research on Beijing. "Prose demands discipline and inner strength," he said. "The more you write, the harder it gets because you must keep surpassing yourself."
Still, he believes Beijing's cultural richness leaves plenty to explore. "People have been writing about Beijing since the Yuan Dynasty," Hou said. "Different writers capture its people, its flavors and its stories. I will keep writing in the Beijing dialect, continuing to uncover the memories buried in the city."
- Why does Hou Lei record the details of Beijing life?
- What reinforced Hou Lei's belief that Beijing's hutong are treasure?
- P lease decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Writing becomes more challenging over time, because there is no much lef t to
explore.
- Besides Hou Lei's methods, what other ways would you use to preserve Beijing's traditional culture? (In about 40 words)