2 最长的胡同 东交民巷

从北京天安门广场南侧向东走，有一条宁静的林荫街巷，叫东交民巷。这条胡同东起崇文门内大街，西至天安门广场西侧路，全长近1.6千米，是北京最长的一条胡同。元朝时，这里是南方米粮漕运京城的停放处，有些商人在此进行江米交易。所以，这里曾叫“江米巷”。

明清时期，由于这地方离皇宫不远，朝廷许多部门都设在这条胡同里。清朝末年，许多外国使节在此建房设馆，强占了东交民巷。清政府的办事机构、王府宅院迁出了这里。这条长长的胡同两侧，至今仍遗存有许多风格各异的西式建筑。现在，这里是文物保护地区和爱国主义教育基地。

The Longest Hutong DONGJIAOMIN XIANG

lf you walk east from the south side of Beijing's Tiananmen Square you will come across a peaceful, tree-lined lane called Dongjiaomin Xiang (Legation Street).This hutong, Beijing's longest with a total length of nearly1.6 kilometers, stretches from Chongwenmen Inner Street in the east to the Tiananmen Square West Side Road in the west. During the Yuan dynasty when grain from the south was transported along the Grand Canal to the capital, this was a stopping point as merchants conducted grain transactions here, so it was once called "Jiangmi Xiang"("River Rice Alley").

During the Ming and Qing period, owing to the proximity of this hutong to the palace, many departments of the court werelocated here. In the late Qing dynasty, many foreign envoys set up embassies and built residences, occupying Dongjiaomin Xiang by force. The governmental offices of the Qing dynasty and the Prince's Residence were moved out from this location. To this day, on either side of this long hutong there remain many unique western-styled buildings. Nowadays, this area is under state protection as a cultural and historical site and a base for patriotic education.