Time: 9:44AM, August 26th, 2012

Place: Big Checkered Alley

Characters: Qixin (11),  Ziyun (7), and Wanting (3)

“He’s from inside,” the 3-year-old toddler, Wan Ting, says pointing at the Noble Quadrangle apartment compound through a tall iron fence. Two large sofas have been pushed up against the outside of fence. One of the fence’s iron bars has been removed alloqing kids from the apartment compound and adjacent hutong to squeeze through the fence and play with each other.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeee!” Wan Ting jumps up and down on the black leather couch screeching with laughter as his older friends, Qixin and Ziyun roughhouse on the other couch. It’s hard to tell who has taken the bigger beating: the big-eared Qixin lying squashed under the plump Ziyun or the sofa who groans each time the two boys tackle each other.

A few months ago, Qixin’s mom bought the couch for 10RMB, and it has become a place for the neighborhood kids to meet up. The sofas are where the fun begins. Sometimes the neighborhood kids will squeeze through the fence play soccer inside the car-free compound. Other times they squeeze out to play Three Kingdoms (a popular role-playing card game), spin tops, or jump on the sofas.

“I lost my top a two days ago. It was gold…” Ziyun bemoans. “It was from my grandmother.”

“I have three tops!” Qixin brags a few moment later. And the two jump back into wrestling each other, and Wan Ting squeals with more excitement.

A while later, 11-year-old Xiaowen appears to see what’s up. She is not interested in the boys’ ruckus. “There used to be a table here where we could homework,” she explain. “I like reading here [on the sofas]. It’s really convenient.”

“If you’re interested in sofas you should go to Guozijian,” she suggests. Her maturity is a welcome contrast to the rambuncious boys beside her. It is not clear if she’s from a Noble Quandrangle condo or a Big Checkered Alley hutong house. For these kids, it does not seem to matter which side they’re on as long as they can still squeeze between the iron bars.