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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
/ u7 D& {+ o' z) S" {0 Warchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider( e A: @+ V2 G: D4 ]" }
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
, D o# ~7 w# R5 ^city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.% z# p( t4 b0 G3 E- T4 V
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,' d3 m* t4 y4 |" D) ~ U
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
0 g" u( p0 c& G, b; I* i5 v" q7 eManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
) y& I z5 m! b; L$ dhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among; F9 a- X/ C; L
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera3 G2 [( ~* H- D! y% {* ]. ~; a
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
% R3 G ^+ O6 |/ Bharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are! P. g. G* W# E! ^) g5 {
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
: g7 Y! P4 Z% b `' yforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I3 f$ L/ e. y/ n, u
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great4 a2 ] _2 f& G* X4 R5 H" A0 `
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
" K$ [4 G- P; k2 h9 Hand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong7 T1 n$ d( M# g( L) `" J r
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment& t# b# W1 |+ I6 N* K
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that! Q V% K' D8 O9 h, p3 p" N
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
9 T) r" m9 ~1 a( |only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a7 V" n8 ?% t8 f5 P
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
9 [) j( o6 z: U3 S$ o' k2 b& ]want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
" u" T: C: F6 o2 I' W; Bto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is" p8 L d1 Z0 B; x& ?2 c
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
) s) b A6 M2 b' v) h& \- cthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
6 c) @: I4 H( o, |8 Q) r6 R& V. Ustill 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
( k9 j8 a K% A( @+ V) {"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
# o7 [4 g j! e4 m& zmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was7 e! Z7 T- l; G' a5 H. }6 }
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
- S" ?# d5 \, t9 I; I- f* `parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
: x/ d, E$ z. c; sthe 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
! M8 d( Z/ Q+ g1 ~, Nimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for- D! o y1 h, |# G* f
development.
Hutongs
0 n. g8 t5 _2 E1 e- l! S- I4 J% O8 ^in the old days were residential area where people actually lived9 a# D9 A$ X5 T% l
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
" D$ Y4 l7 r! j* H0 [0 I2 oin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not2 u4 q9 J: {5 j# v$ ]
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you$ q1 q. Z% n2 X% x' d; {6 z2 q- E# {
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
& E8 f9 F9 C) b* O* e! I0 C) JFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
5 i+ s& l- J! W. [+ ^( E+ ~to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used/ ^" b$ p) K/ Y( o$ i$ j6 \
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
/ p5 g, K% Y5 M, X! H4 Ssupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
1 g1 P, q' s* F% D4 |$ q. d$ sunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
7 a: ?$ M" W! K0 mlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,& g& z- ^4 U" w! e2 L% e8 J0 S
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the2 c* l) s) F' {" H% P
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
4 F5 i. G( \( _; [6 g1 t2 F" F1 Cproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
$ A4 T9 y0 k6 u" Mrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong" E$ R6 W" Z1 J
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
) \( D9 }, @3 l$ S" \1 l8 zpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be: W& |( D, K' T2 C, U2 _8 L
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished9 @# u- D/ g9 A" v
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
( `; J1 h) F8 LNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are, J0 U% ~3 q. W1 o" t+ _7 R/ G
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
3 B& ~: h2 _ F9 Y% p4 o5 W, Y0 n) nnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image, k5 b1 K2 J0 X
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these. I1 R3 W0 i$ e3 g% o o) K
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
" D- s3 g. X# @: a5 s3 |people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they) @. M! T8 c4 s' A/ c( S
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some6 I7 L9 c7 c- D f' D& O5 e+ ^
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before) I! H% L \( z8 B: _$ ~* a+ G/ I
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all2 N# K& F# A* Y$ p5 V) z- W' Y
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise) [. |/ ^6 X/ a3 j# o
apartments are the way to go? No.$ Z3 p7 x _( b6 c2 w t0 t
$ n$ s4 x$ u- e3 U! c. ? " Q0 f; Z3 x" T& ?
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the* M+ o$ m3 p" j; g0 r- K9 V; [
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
8 L. w7 \6 j+ f+ I$ O6 G'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
+ u+ {& O/ Z$ m: K1 s) v3 Ano money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
0 W5 F9 d# j# J/ B# a7 Zfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
: ]7 _; X2 i( S* u' M9 ]7 Kresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless2 A1 m; u1 S. `
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is! K$ W0 ~& {& M( ^' M1 g
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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