What is Culture?

Culture. It is a word we say easily, but it always seems to hold more weight than it first appears. It can mean history, tradition, or something harder to explain – it can mean the concept of “culture” itself, something ambiguous.

The Hutongs are part of Beijing. Their narrow alleys and old bricks carry memory. To protect them is not only to keep buildings standing, but also to keep a way of life alive. To protect “culture”.

Still, I wondered: what is culture? Is it only about time – how long something has lasted? Does it come from major events, or from small, ordinary moments? Does it have to be something we can see or touch?

This project brought me closer to these questions. Walking through the Hutongs, speaking with residents, and stepping into quiet courtyards, I felt something difficult to name.

At first, I thought culture was only history. But time alone does not create meaning. It is people who shape culture.

In one empty courtyard, I paused. Though silent, it felt alive with memory: the voices of elders, the laughter of children. The courtyard had seen it all, watching quietly as generations passed. Like a bystander, it observes, and through the passing of seasons, culture sediments into the bricks, the walls, the roofs. Still, we are talking about something intangible – an inexplicable feeling of awe under the grandeur or the minuscule. Yet it manifests in these tangible things that we can touch and feel. That is culture.