Life in a hutong

Tan Siok Siok's black-and-white photos reveal a touching and lively side of daily lives in Beijing's hutong area.

"Many of my followers (on social media) are surprised (to know) that all the photos were taken in the same hutong," she says, adding that some thought she had visited different alleyways in the city.

Tan took the black-and-white images through the different seasons as well as the changes in natural light in the Fangjia hutong, which is located near tourist spots such as the Lama Temple and the Imperial College.

Over the past five years, she has visited this alleyway that is close to her office to click the pictures, almost daily.

"You can say they were taken recently or dozens of years ago," Tan says of the color treatment.

One of Tan's friends, who moved to New Zealand two years ago, has since put up several of Tan's hutong photos on the walls of her home as a way to recall her days in Beijing.

When she came to Beijing in 2010 from Singapore, Tan was interested in everything a hutong had to offer to newcomers, especially foreigners: bikes lying on the ground locked with a chain and empty chairs to dissuade people from parking vehicles outside houses in the crammed lanes.