Inside Xian (西安) doorways

I had some time to wander around the side streets near 书院门街. These kids reminded me of what we did when I was their age - making paper boats and floating them down the street gutters when it rained. But the water in our street gutters were clear and clean. These, on the other hand, were almost as dark as ink. It did not seem to bother those kids though.

Since it was raining, at times rather heavily, I took shelter inside some of the doorways, and ended up poking inside some of them. Note the two rectangular blocks of stone supporting the frame of the doorway. These are relatively simply designs. Some were much more elaborate, carved into stone drums, turtles, or fantastic animals. Most of these were originally courtyard houses - with four long-ish houses surrounding a spacious rectangular courtyard. Invariably, shabbily-built small houses were added to the courtyard, reducing it down to narrow, crooked passageways. Just as I was taking the photo, a small boy came out of the green screen door. I took off, not knowing whether I would be welcome.

This is inside another doorway. Note the steep and narrow staircase leading to the second floor. Seconds later, a woman came out of the the door to the left to fetch water from the container just next to the door, covered by the metal basins. Apparently may of these houses have no running water.

And no toilet either. Night soil have to be taken care of each morning. This is true even of beautiful cities like Suzhou （蘇州）.

I walked through yet another doorway, turned around, and saw these rickety stairs leading to the second floor. It is a precarious living, isn’t it?

Further inside, and turning left, I found that there was a lot more to the house. The pile of pressed blocks of coal to the right is a cheap and common fuel in China. Holes are made in the block for more efficient burning. Still, coal burning is a major source of pollution in China.

Poking my nose into these doorways gave me a better feeling of what it is like to live in the older parts of Xian.