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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
) Q! ], K: X/ o2 ~& Farchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider. u. ]! s! e* a6 k7 U# ~+ b3 V8 m
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
& F+ ^' q b9 w0 m# f4 Icity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.- p5 Y+ }, ^5 T& c+ f
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,; d7 G; ?: i3 B9 F- X% m! i* O
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
; X3 d1 d. I# p+ UManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
/ m% g2 c6 {1 ]$ shutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
3 d$ \) p# E& qeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera6 |1 M( ~5 A7 A& z
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
* V. J5 ^1 e3 }% zharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
* e$ I. s2 x% M* B4 `/ X" {descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
7 A/ g" f0 t7 ]) V, Kforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
$ s# d4 j) z0 N, [# j/ I" Jwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great/ W. T2 {; t' o6 w7 P0 I/ H
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,6 ?# y. C+ c+ D8 a
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong: ^1 f% ^1 M- Z8 g4 _3 X2 ?1 v5 e* [- t
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
( |. O! ]2 c8 c! U( j0 Tof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
8 b* {, `7 `. E a0 |no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are E$ p7 L) \8 Z f
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
0 L4 t( r. \. e) H4 b$ u( tsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government t' ]7 l) M" P E1 b6 [
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move( f7 G+ p; x, S) z( ~' q
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
* J& e" j. C* N"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
! E h8 H, }( Dthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
# I8 G' `1 e6 Qstill 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 to6 [) h) h) q% z- Y, p# ?
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make6 X* W$ x3 a0 V. ~
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
: u5 C6 A( q) x$ j$ {( |1 ]a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a7 M) A( b1 Y2 y2 p; M6 V
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
2 O B$ _& V) J1 I: x8 {3 F% hthe 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
q' ]5 k! I& w' N7 Fimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
* ~& J& ] a' Q2 Zdevelopment.
Hutongs
! ^& b/ T2 x( r7 r6 `in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
5 w' i7 c# E1 F+ i, C1 `there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions5 Q. ?# j" `( U4 k
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not2 ] M2 s/ p4 s1 u/ O4 G) N
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
k o: _+ Q$ j9 s0 Mwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.& _( R8 m" ~ L# L
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date+ D$ Z, M7 _3 y( l- T
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
t: e- M+ l0 @8 h, b& h3 Lto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
4 V8 Y5 }+ \! k) s# y! H2 Q7 wsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
+ y9 @5 m6 ^/ X1 a7 S! h1 Munfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
4 x4 c2 E/ O% B0 a. d. J+ V5 m) i0 |live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
' a. p+ H8 `$ j8 {. I% ehutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
) n. P0 G& D3 } `! |balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the" G4 M' C2 I6 s u1 ]' W
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
! N- Z/ Q: F7 G) Zrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
* v$ V/ n. k; ^, i3 Z# Z8 \Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how* ? r% W! \) D8 g
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be8 o8 z2 q; ]- ^" J2 H( X7 r' ~1 a
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished) j8 X& t; v: w0 F$ A6 b2 n% l
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".; Q) | f9 R! f' E. M ~. C0 u
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are# E+ Y3 t4 G2 D4 ^( C
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
* Y) d/ C4 |1 u0 ]% Xnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
3 w0 f; W; ~4 yof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
5 E$ F& g6 C1 }0 F% |8 ]5 tHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those" z6 L; ^- Q, a
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
3 P9 [" V$ K7 [/ ?6 K+ F) j6 q% Zmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some! B1 b" h; n; }( v9 k+ T
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before O+ {" Q7 `- G( ^( q0 h( R
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all/ S+ ]6 b' v S" B8 b% L# j
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
8 A3 S, e! N6 p) j/ Japartments are the way to go? No.
6 S% E9 b0 }+ _& ~4 z, V
" L0 {* A% B$ I! Y9 D4 Q3 y
0 e4 a8 U, r S
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the! U- ~% n. E; T7 |4 |
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
& A$ K! p" t/ Y% G'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
- M g7 C# n7 }7 yno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
0 k" J7 M0 G& I) Hfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant; Y f1 B0 Y2 F9 Q. l- @
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless4 F2 O# n% M0 Q2 q# N* b
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
8 `- A6 q& _2 Yunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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