A Beijing Postcard, and Hutong Home Security

Since I've rambled here at length about my neighborhood, I thought I'd direct you to one last piece on it that I wrote for the magazine.

And subject you to one more tale for the blog. Yesterday morning I was awakened shortly before 5 a.m. by the sound of someone calling out. Usually it takes a lot to wake me, but something about the noise or the time got me out of bed quickly. I walked to my front door, where I ran into my neighbor Yu. He was holding a flashlight in one hand and a large cleaver in the other.

"Oh, Shuanghzou, you're ok! I thought there might have been a thief," he said cheerily. "Go back to sleep." Apparently I didn't close my door tight the night before and it had blown open. Yu spotted this while he was putting out his laundry and came by to check. With vigilant neighbors like this in Beijing, security teams on Segways hardly seem necessary.