Shijia Hutong

　　Shijia Hutong is situated in the southeastern part of Dongcheng District, starting from East Chaoyangmen South Lane in the east and extending to Dongsi South Street in the west. It connects to East and West Luoquan Hutongs in the south and neighbors Neiwubu Street in the north. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Chaoyangmen Subdistrict Office. It is said to be named after a prominent local family with the surname Shi.

　　During the Ming Dynasty, Shijia Hutong was part of Huanghua Fang, and in the Qing Dynasty, it belonged to the Bordered White Banner. In 1965, during a citywide effort to standardize place names, Jinghua and Guanxue Courtyards were incorporated into it. During the Cultural Revolution, it was briefly renamed "18th Ruijin Road," but later reverted to its original name.

　　The architecture in this hutong is neat and the houses are relatively well-built, mostly consisting of large residences. According to longtime residents, Liu Fucheng, chairman of the Bank of China and France during the late Qing Dynasty, and the famous courtesan Sai Jinhua (also known as Fu Caiyun), both had residences here. No. 51 in the hutong was the former home of Mr. Zhang Shizhao. After the Xinhai Revolution, Zhang served as Minister of Education. In 1949, he participated in the Beijing Peace Talks as a member of the Nanjing Nationalist Government delegation. When the Nationalist Government refused to sign the domestic peace agreement, he went to Hong Kong. He later returned to Beijing to attend the first session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and his entire family also moved to Beijing. They initially stayed at the home of Zhu Qiqian on Dongsi Batiao, but due to the large size of both families, the living space became cramped. In 1959, when Premier Zhou Enlai visited Zhang Shizhao and noticed the issue, he personally intervened to resolve the housing problem. Mrs. Zhang chose No. 51 Shijia Hutong, a traditional three-courtyard residence. Zhang Shizhao felt the entire residence was too large for his family and thus partitioned off the third courtyard. After Zhang Shizhao’s death, his family continued to live there. In 1984, it was designated as a cultural heritage site under Dongcheng District protection. No. 55 in the hutong features a brick-carved poem by a prince above its entrance gate and screen wall, along with matching couplets on both sides.