China - Hu Tongs

This is a picture of my mom sitting with a couple outside their home. Everyone was really great about having their pictures taken.
The Hu Tongs are a part of China I have never heard of before. It is where a large part of the people live, kinda like villages. You find them everywhere if you know how to look for them. You can be going down all the main roads for years and not realize the villages hidden off the main streets. It is like going down an alley that opens up into its own world. Families live down walkways with doors that open off the walkway into their courtyard where 1 - 3 families might live. It is really hard to explain in words! It's like nothing I have ever experienced here.
During the Olympics, hundreds of them were destroyed. People protested and not all of them were lost.
In these villages, they even share bathrooms. Have I mentioned that their toilets are just holes in the ground? I couldn't bring myself to use any of them. I could manage a whole day until I got back to Paula's. I got some pictures of them if you want to see them.