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The following is a hutong discussion promoted by me on a Chinese history oriented forum:
Me:
As Beijing has been the capital of China for more than 800 years, its
" y' a2 f4 C6 Earchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider1 S7 ^4 o9 I: o% K# q* d
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"- I( C5 H9 t; C3 M
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
9 B1 y8 i2 L8 a2 j8 g! p0 |According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
) l E+ {2 i4 i. a3 [' M( |3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of2 j; L9 K& S) `. b5 y- @
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
7 S8 h$ y; c5 Y/ y/ |; `: J+ Ghutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
$ `6 n: b. j4 D3 Y1 \each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera" [) X2 H1 e/ o& M8 r! f
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is) K7 k' Q ^/ l. ~- x' H! d
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are) F2 |) C6 h V* l
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
$ z2 o1 t2 B; I; b" Wforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
$ A* E; P1 Z$ p: ~was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great, v7 t! Y% z4 [. D1 f9 i
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
]* C( U9 L5 |* f$ Wand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
: O# [' t$ _% E ?! Dhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
% Y. {5 ?# ^! h. c, h$ Q+ Iof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
6 Q2 \9 ^4 S |( g2 v0 \1 L/ kno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are* x2 V8 p( Q4 e; y6 r
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a" L4 a( [& o8 }' C3 r& l
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
3 p( _: c& [$ l$ E, R$ qwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move! j1 r& K: ~; o) X0 Z* f
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is2 X( a4 {( J- {7 K+ |4 b
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
+ }; C' l) K1 ^4 wthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are1 f$ a. v& f5 E# U: d6 D) s
still living in compact apartment cells, Olympic Games will still be held in Beijing if four-combinations still stand.
Kimchee:
I think it's ashame how historical sights are destroyed due to( b6 a3 o4 \) w# Z2 P6 ]4 F8 |
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
( ^( J4 [( H2 ]' m' Smoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
& ~' l& Y; R+ W! K& X% g' va beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
$ d" g+ h; @* r' Z5 N! E0 yparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across. }0 a! v+ r% R. k; |/ q
the street is still there, but I thought it was a crime to do this.
Ashura:
While I do agree and support the perservation of properties of cultural
( d/ o( I6 w- I: e& \* [1 B6 ^9 y* {importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for: h6 q9 x" W) P6 K M& M& {
development.
Hutongs6 e( b! S2 w, ~4 Z# X
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived+ _3 f% q* L" W" k( y5 D3 \9 C
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions1 [9 T- r' B, i) i7 O
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not% X0 z( u4 z) e
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
# \: U4 n I( Y }. |! lwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.0 i5 z5 m' q$ J/ d6 I x2 k" z
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date$ s6 o; l9 q0 k! N
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used" T9 u/ t% ?2 U3 c$ f' ~. z
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses2 n. L5 Z) E) H) V
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
0 U% q% d9 _; {* |; B1 Runfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to0 R* z, y" v+ U1 F
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
9 E% M+ N1 ~ nhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the; e9 a$ p7 S- N+ i% R
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
. f- R; p& H' {) F% F( y2 v7 X1 ^project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be2 u: F4 `) b. H1 }- H: w4 E! x
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
9 n$ s% d9 T0 V9 Y8 pMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
4 l7 r# b& E, o( @0 Cpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be1 t) C! H6 H. m9 o( K* e; w
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
- L' |6 u8 H( D) C6 q7 I8 xmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
! @1 |/ i+ H! f* ?, ^6 H+ w E) pNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are, S0 x5 m& p8 }3 k
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially+ T& s- k e; N6 \1 M. Z% o* R, w! W
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
6 z; C4 L" E d1 iof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
8 a1 Y5 i7 U8 o9 w) y( y3 PHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those2 q n( l& _% e5 x# x
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they1 |3 C% [ ^* v' R0 `
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some; ~( |: y1 H2 W1 D K7 t4 Y; D$ H
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before, j# Z# P4 z" E, d6 n4 O4 G# e
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all- r% l( e8 S% ^4 {- q
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise4 d1 v" I) B- B! A m
apartments are the way to go? No.( L% V# ^, B+ y
+ k: s1 y6 c! L% z. m: F6 K# W
a0 z0 Z% p; o1 P0 _) [; I ^
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the7 v0 q' J5 ^6 V9 A
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
1 U, ~1 ~3 `) f" _8 B9 t'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make" ~6 `" ~# `# \6 e( s
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
; ?) a& E& `5 k4 X6 e. v& t! wfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant% U9 g' M1 y* v3 X
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
( N5 D" v0 ]3 D: kBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is) \4 F. p; w' |
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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