Dorothy Graham (1893-1959) was an American traveller who accompanied her husband and chose to live in an old hutong near Chongwenmen gate in Peking. They only lived there for four months but she understood some of the beautiful sensibilities and customs of the capital. “There are no vistas in Peking; only high gray walls banding narrow hutungs. Yet the streets awakened under our vision, like a piece of tapestry springing to life. At sunset a file of camels trailed down a lane in a cloud of golden dust. Or three blind beggar women, wraith-like figures from some dim, shadowed limbo, swayed uncertainly over the rough road like wind-blown leaves.” (chapter 8). She was a skilful photographer and the work is illustrated with her photographs.
