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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( u% A) T1 [- a( e6 D
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
' f1 h$ r; H; f! fBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"0 {- b/ w% L4 k' G! Y, k
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.. T. W) H; u6 u9 _9 ~+ a3 p
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,, e) n9 L, Z4 I) l+ S
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
* r7 ?5 ~' ?2 K$ @5 z/ {/ xManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
8 L+ @: D3 b% w& X/ K0 ~hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
4 q* q/ x" `! _; Y3 |0 Beach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera9 l8 I" Q: |) n q1 b
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is+ i" f- d) M9 v" w' t
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are; \6 R: E8 A4 z7 P* v! @
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and) R5 j- E+ r: T) ]4 m# {) a* a. B" Y
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
0 L/ A' e7 _: N" i' i t( Q' owas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
7 U5 x: N1 C3 s9 ^impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,# z; k1 W0 a/ C+ S2 B, K2 _
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong7 {1 {: C2 O1 [" b3 I
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment2 r6 n6 |- c" C* r3 v! o/ @1 L
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
* r; F& L- X: B2 o/ q3 ?8 Ino hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
q4 {" k% F, L4 X% Bonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a- A! x1 \/ y# \" R& F" h
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government+ R1 O' v7 p( \
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
$ x/ s9 F8 m" R! n# P. \" F3 m8 {0 Lto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is% y C) y2 a- s+ o# f0 o( u) `1 g
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
! T- h: B9 { l8 e Ithis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
Y0 e! I4 R4 Nstill 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
% s8 L. r7 {$ q$ U) P: T. ~"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make4 ~7 D; u2 p" k3 m: E/ U
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
& u0 `! k5 G" G( x$ v* J va beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
6 v" Q; k( W1 E. L# M! w; Eparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
6 C) l$ V/ g% D# Z1 m) p" @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( R. N" z1 B! |, n, Z" J% u6 V
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for. u, q: \' q `) m! y( D- p7 g
development.
Hutongs3 i: d+ }, p- j Q' r2 ~
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
4 J! C% I8 S6 R( Z7 I' vthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
, N, q* C4 ^' W! ?3 S" ~. r) Cin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not" T d" a% H# y$ {
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
; ^& x+ d3 h: Q" M5 Z# ~will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
7 T7 g( U) l& e8 a/ T6 gFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date# Q9 A# J- G. C+ h' ^
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used2 d( O% A" w% H
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
5 C$ Y z4 _. `& Ssupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically- U( b; h, S$ w1 @, q( l8 ]/ z' y
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to" a9 X5 N6 f- e2 E" g" u
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
, x6 \5 C4 B P; e: khutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
" r) H+ p: U# n) P# \0 J/ \+ e$ Fbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
; a2 F6 |) h' c4 W* I6 p- n% iproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be2 z) T$ w9 D" k7 G+ _3 I
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
; [0 } Q; n7 ?5 yMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
! f! Z% V7 g. q' |& M: jpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be) P4 B# [) y. _& r
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
9 J9 q6 {% h" r' {memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
$ N: S K" e; D5 r1 {9 TNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are& d" _. l, ^* y% w9 a& P
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
4 R. `! D5 _! |( v/ dnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image. u( C4 U; _; X4 s" E. Z
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these' M5 i; O* X I, N0 q' g0 J6 u
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those& G; B2 p+ q9 p' N- ^9 p- B
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
. H; d2 t" E8 S" d/ X2 O2 ~may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
- W" u+ K J2 `4 @! s. U7 Lof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
! b1 X# i/ _/ {9 ]' F( J"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all+ [: u% c7 N( [5 b& J
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
* ?( m% F+ [+ j i1 G! yapartments are the way to go? No.0 O- M! ^/ L* |* y: e6 _
8 O8 C6 u( t1 n0 k, E' I
$ g' y; j5 R& b
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the9 m! R3 m# J/ r3 [
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
7 ^6 P; h: O6 y9 }2 w' H8 b6 E'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
. m' \0 Q8 S. c. cno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
$ |5 r$ P. J, m2 I! u% F- q0 \! hfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant/ @9 Y4 v4 a w# R, n( A e; @
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
% |/ B3 J9 A0 _6 c# f( w' T* QBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
$ j+ B2 {6 `* x( Q' I4 funlikely to happen too. Sad!
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