The last episode of Danwei TV's Hard Hat Show was an interview with the writer Mike Meyer, who is completing a book about his experiences living in the hutong area west of Qianmen. He introduced us to a Chinese writer living in the area, Zhang Jinqi (张金起).

Zhang has recently published a book about the history of that area: The Carnal History of The Eight Big Hutongs (八大胡同里的尘缘旧事, available on Chinese online retailers Joyo and Dangdang). Aside from writing boooks, Zhang is also organizing the online archive of historical materials about Chinese buildings and cities at MemoryOfChina.org.

This episode is a brief interview with Zhang, where we find out a little more about the area's colorful and bawdy history, and get Zhang's views on restoration of historical sites in China.

If you are outside China, there is a version on Youtube for faster loading.

Credits: Shot and edited by Luke Mines, presented by Jeremy Goldkorn, music by Fernando Fidanza

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