View of a Local in Beijing, China: An In

February 7th, 2007 by Anni Poulsen
Beijing resident Zhang Wei is fighting an uphill battle to document and preserve the few Siheyuan (compound with a courtyard) and Hutongs (narrow lane between courtyards) left in Beijing. In this View of a Local interview, he tells us about his Old Beijing project and how you as a visitor to Beijing can help preserve this important part of Chinese culture. Translated by Yi Jing.

Briefly please could you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Zhang Wei and I’m 30 years old. I used to work as a cook and media worker. I’ve a girlfriend, but we’re not married yet.

How long have you lived in Beijing?

I was born in Beijing in 1977, then moved to another province with my parents for 15 years. They worked there and I spent my summer and winter vacations in Beijing with my grandparents almost every year. I now live and work in Beijing.

You’re the founder of the Old Beijing project. What is the project about and why did you start it?

The initial reason for building this website was to remember our old house, which was demolished. In the year of 2000, during the road-widening project in Beijing, our old house, where my family had lived for over 70 years, was torn down. I kept the wooden frame of a window, which was made from red pinetree as a memento and took it to my new home. One night, I was looking at it and suddenly a thought came into my mind: I ought to do something to remember our old house. In addition, I have always had a passion for the traditional culture of the old Beijing. Then the oldbeijing.net was born.

What do you hope to achieve with the Old Beijing project?

I hope that this website will make people aware of the need to protect our cultural relics, so we can keep the few old Hutongs that still exist. At the same time, I hope this website can be a spiritual home for all my friends, who cherish the traditional culture of the old Beijing and want to keep our ancestors’ civilization for our children to enjoy.

Are you working alone on the project?

Before 2005, yes. Since then, more and more people have joined me and are helping me voluntarily.

The Old Beijing is rapidly disappearing, what is being done to preserve the siheyuan and hutung for future generations?

Our first task is to record them by camera, videocamera and some notes. This is what our “Old Beijing record team” is doing every weekend, some even every day. Then we put all this information together and look through historical files to find evidence of the construction’s importance to support its preservation. Finally, we may deliver this message to the public through the media, which will put pressure on the government and protect the house from being demolished.

How do you fund these projects?

All the people who take part in this project, are doing it completely voluntarily. Sometimes, some friends will donate some money or equipment.

Will the Olympics 2008 in Beijing help or hinder the preservation of Old Beijing?

The city of Beijing paid and is paying too high a price for the 2008 Olympics, or I should say that the 2008 Olympics has sped up the destruction of old Beijing. Because officially all the demolishing is in the name of the 2008 Olympics, whether it is true or not.

If visitors to Beijing would like see a siheyuan or a hutung, where would be the best place to go?

The Shi-cha-hai and Luo-gu-xiang areas. If a visitor would like to see a more original area that is under demolishing, then the Xian-yu-kou area (near the Qianmen) would be a good choice.

Is there anything you wish travellers would start or stop doing when they visit Beijing?

Do: Try your best to visit those Hutong areas which are being demolished, because visiting is also a kind of “protest”.

Don’t: Do not make negative comments too casually about those old Hutong neighbourhoods, because this kind of original neighbourhood is pivotal to the traditional culture of old Beijing.

How can locals and visitors to Beijing help your projects?

By visiting, seeing and noticing the more original areas and buildings in old Beijing, by looking deeper into the heart of old Beijing, and if you love this fabulous culture, do what you are able to do to help us protect it!

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