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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, its7 F- l8 s+ Q+ {5 v2 L9 E8 N
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider8 n& |$ m9 ]* H$ S8 Y5 ]7 V8 m) \* B0 j
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"4 p8 O6 v% p5 f( D7 I, p4 `( T
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.2 V/ k6 G2 R1 f' n$ B
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,) `3 d. E) F) X+ V7 n$ c
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of; m5 ~6 M0 I& D) J% n2 d
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
9 E, {3 H7 ?& c- D" u- |# \hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among: |# n; W8 g( v% U3 z
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera Y; D8 s' Z0 X' Q$ Z* u
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is; l( A# [- X4 I# T9 G6 ^! w
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are0 S2 G9 [ `4 f5 E" {6 V$ i+ u% a
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
8 b: b9 h# Y+ A: ]& {2 P: U% cforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I! |/ {2 _, n6 c: o
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
3 @% w" |( M0 X, ximpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
' }6 k! d& D! B. jand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong, j' Y6 U7 t/ \4 N8 Y
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment$ u3 B5 e7 o# T, Y
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that6 U% T m {7 F [& k
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
$ k" U1 X9 o. `& K, m( lonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a& M |7 q% C3 V* U! D/ R2 s0 f" K, v
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government& I/ ^2 {7 q$ b o) K3 j% u
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move H. k! W' v. \1 s. a$ g9 b
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is! ?+ Q0 v6 `: @
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
7 O! C9 c: i$ _( Ythis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
' _) C2 M) a4 B; f7 d; Lstill 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
6 ^( E- j0 T, t$ {"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
9 |0 f) c9 z% B! }3 W4 Wmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was/ z/ Y: ~2 s% G% L
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
' y* F' E( [6 gparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across* _ | Z0 a$ |. a
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
# B8 [4 S) P8 Z' }! ~ K! A5 s& P' Cimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for8 x% G/ s* C7 b% }8 l! ^
development.
Hutongs
2 w2 p# a& Z; J8 @$ C7 C" }2 Ain the old days were residential area where people actually lived3 r; R1 W: a! V+ x$ X6 ~
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions+ k0 d, e8 A! U3 E+ T# I' P% U
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not6 Q2 ~! g6 F# d% u
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
. F" o& }0 u+ _6 j* C. N; z/ q) B& h$ Lwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.' {8 Y3 k+ T0 C4 k
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
# D2 q* W5 j i- gto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used2 ^7 V8 B' u1 M2 }! {! d X. `
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses' t+ N. ~/ m3 H
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
0 V7 \$ ?4 V. P- W$ C1 U- Yunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to7 P9 j) h3 d$ Y& h
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,' L2 X! m& u. F8 z/ l6 j& [
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
" ]6 R S; ]/ A8 Y7 d! Y. dbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the% A5 f9 }& ` c" [7 z9 {1 Y
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
8 M% y# D S. n! k" Irenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong# V+ y& R* i. @$ r2 y0 }3 E" o
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
. |; c# Z, W+ v6 Ypeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
- v6 j4 w- n' e: Jtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished2 p5 E) Y" r2 g# S/ g
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".1 h! i$ ?* M) C7 t, n8 Y" c% r
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are0 @' V [+ h& d- Y9 z8 o( W
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially# K- ]6 e' ]# h6 @
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image/ \4 m7 D/ ^' K( X [4 {1 E+ u
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
* ~ P4 w5 z+ S& d# e8 G! vHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those2 v; `. R, G; o9 e
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they2 J2 s: E8 B7 q, C1 X
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
& y! s: x' y0 c4 V) `of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before( `3 Z' M% w& R/ [( `: h3 i8 B4 ]2 ?
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all6 X7 S% Z- {" }( V$ y% q j* Z
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
- x' M7 |3 N7 G; c1 sapartments are the way to go? No.
) `8 \" D2 x1 Q. N* R
* f: v8 S* `! @+ W
`* Q5 k2 f ?$ {
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
3 N6 d4 M; r* v6 Vsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this9 \3 n* X' B) X0 ^
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make+ h* F- z4 o5 ~
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
% f4 ~) _5 ` t- V4 _# P0 b) Vfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
! R9 X1 {, C! R, t! ?resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
8 J0 G" W+ c1 X4 i! tBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is0 l# _3 r# r* W+ A, D2 s9 ], o
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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