北京胡同里的四合院酒店

With only the gentle tweet-tweet of birds to interrupt the peaceful silence and leafy green vines hanging overhead, this hutong-style home in Shichahai is an exceedingly rare scene of tranquility among the busy urban environment of Beijing. In 2008, it had the distinction of being one of the 33 hutong-style homes in Beijing which were officially recognized as Olympic host families.

Ms. Wang and her husband own this courtyard home-stay. She explains the popularity of hutong-style homes among foreigners, and the value of hutong-homes in terms of providing a window to observe Chinese culture.

"When foreign friends come here, they find that life in the courtyard is very peaceful. It's lively and noisy outside, but they felt at home after they finished watching the Olympic Games. And they come back every year, we've become old friends."

During the 2008 Olympics, host families like Wang's provided accommodation and hospitality to foreign guests. People from across the world were given the opportunity to experience traditional Chinese living. The owners and their guests ate together, drank beer together, joked around, and made lasting friendships with one another.

Courtyards which possess a traditional folk-style atmosphere, almost romantic in a sense, are common around Shichahai. Some even have Five Star ratings, and the Zi Tan Theme Hotel is one of them.

The simple and antique decorations with rich cultural connotations are the major attractions in the hotel. Xing Yahong is the manager.

"Although it's a courtyard hotel, it's built with the configuration of a star-rated hotel in mind, combined with the traditional style of a Beijing dwelling. So it's comfortable to live here."

Courtyard hotels have increased in number considerably across the city in areas where hutongs exist, and in recent years they have been gaining in popularity. The number of courtyard hotels has increased from 30 to more than 100. Most of these hotels, however, have fewer than 10 beds available, which puts them at a disadvantage in their efforts to achieve a star rating, regardless of the elaborate decorations and excellent service on offer.

Thanks to the joint effort of 42 courtyard hotels, a Beijing Hutong hotel union has been established. Jiang Haixing, president of the union, says they've found a way to solve the promotional difficulties.

"There must be some new standards and promotional methods adopted after coming together. For example, we will have unified requirements on staff training, recruitment, and marketing management, including safety and sanitary issues during daily operations."

It's reported that the occupancy rate of courtyard hotels reached as high as 90% during the recent National Day holiday period. Providing a good alternative to star-rated hotels, courtyard hotels are proving more and more popular among travelers from home and abroad; and as a result are making big profits. But experts in the field of cultural relic protection suggest that the traditional courtyard architecture and Hutong culture should not be damaged when developing this growing industry.

For CRI, I'm He Fei.