A hutong (hú tong 胡同) is an ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where hutongs run into the several thousand. Surrounding the Forbidden City (gù gōng 故宫 ), many were built during the Yuan (1206-1341), Ming(1368-1628) and Qing(1644-1908) dynasties. In the prime of these dynasties the emperors, in order to establish supreme power for themselves, planned the city and arranged the residential areas according to the etiquette systems of the Zhou Dynasty. The center of the city of Beijing was the royal palace -- the Forbidden City.

Yonghegong (雍和宫 the Palace of Harmony and Peace)，popularly known as the” Lama Temple” , is a famous lamasery in the northeastern part of Beijing．It is located next to the northern side of the Second Ring Road，with Bai Lin Si ( Normal 0 7.8 磅 0 2 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 the Cypress Grove Temple)to its east and the Temple of Confucius and the Imperial Academy to the west．Yonghegong Lamasery is the largest lamasery and one of the best preserved lama temples at the present time in Beijing with a total area of 66，400 square meters，480 meters long from north to south and 120 meters wide from east to west．Yonghegong Lamasery is also a well—known monastery of the Gelugpa，the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism in Mainland China．In 1961，it was listed as one of China’s major national treasures under state protection．