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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
+ N! @ I. ~6 _% ]1 D/ p7 qarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
; Z( ?" V/ x" R# {; j8 ^" dBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"3 S' G) x/ U" @' ?6 v0 n* \
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.' N, F1 z" Z9 `0 f- Z& b
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,' K& j2 i) D. u0 R
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of- b |0 t+ E; F# E0 A6 ?7 z
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within1 o- C! i& y. X- _' L9 s4 ^, e, n
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
$ a: H8 B/ Z( F3 feach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera0 G4 h' r: [2 C0 m
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
5 `% N( s, L+ }1 m& h1 \* Wharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are7 ]/ Y4 s2 J: M6 g- H5 ]
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and4 W4 N: c) h H5 w7 ^7 }0 L/ d
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
* r, P: [$ V. K; J# j7 `was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great: j3 G# i6 ^# O+ m2 y! `" I2 _' k
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
* ]1 l3 k4 Y- q8 \and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
) Z& R9 _; p m* s0 ?# C X3 Phas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
6 W w' G. o1 W! `6 Fof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
4 i3 X* s0 V( G0 n- gno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are/ [) Y% Z( |7 g- L
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a# O$ s+ p% z! v0 J" @0 L. M
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government3 b6 K5 J, `* @# H6 L- P% ?
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move5 q' q7 f0 b/ I G2 g0 ~4 Y
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
# ~! ?- `0 x! a"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,+ x& T% m1 \& y- O, B) x
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
. l# |( q, ?1 u$ J. V+ fstill 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; R n6 T5 t* @, ^
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make! u4 k2 x2 F9 n [
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
9 ~2 N% @( ~. C+ a8 G# ?a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a# f a9 `; u q5 D3 x& S% \/ o5 W
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across% M4 F4 l8 ? d2 J
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
( {; T& \4 z5 W4 w8 {% |6 gimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
% r3 @2 U9 s+ i5 ]. u- b8 |development.
Hutongs" a7 t& w2 E6 I h8 b6 v
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived$ I4 k- m' ^" `5 l& |4 y6 j9 L
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions* v( ^% V3 S7 v( o+ e; R" c8 _1 H
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not4 Z; [5 W% D0 c& l8 R) S& S: C
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you, n3 ]8 r0 x2 Z0 H1 S) S
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.0 } {; w6 X+ }0 w; o+ I# ~6 g; U
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date4 f" A s% E# _ |2 s# d* w; [
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used- S" h/ L& F( D7 a+ I6 ~. O9 _
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses) t4 g, r# U; z3 v4 H
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
; c; Y* Y0 P; J1 vunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
" V/ }( `" G* t }8 olive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,1 } Y3 k) ?, g, b
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the) [; b3 J9 [- W$ C6 X7 i
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
% p$ Z) J. M. o- A# M' W$ p. zproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
$ h) E E0 {) ^3 y' s% A! x& ?8 {/ mrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
& @0 y/ R7 `9 W$ I; Z- T* qMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how4 v' C' X* A+ _- m1 W
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
, G* M7 k6 e- B/ x( `torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
5 I: g, w# @( Kmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
* G* X( o# ~( r- V8 M1 hNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are; [+ f) `9 w9 O) Q/ @# J
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially1 P2 r, ^/ T4 j
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image" |9 y" r: ^; k3 _& S
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these, h: x0 c9 l+ _3 N( P# f( R
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those2 ^1 m7 i8 {0 n* \# V8 D
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
( b3 j" c7 H: f: S8 f, ^may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some. ~" o5 H6 r0 o' L3 j5 |$ m
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before. z8 W+ A! p' P7 z% d' l# m1 c
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all! K) f' C- j% {! y& I( L$ S
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
+ s0 X& q4 d: _2 J1 _apartments are the way to go? No.- P ]" D, g5 \- S2 @
" H* e4 [/ G6 ]2 t! b3 P @
3 b7 q" w( K4 F4 c
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
% e/ ?0 v, N' n+ l/ vsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
4 j) S+ D& V' x8 B* C'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
3 q* Y$ A2 s, g' O2 K( Cno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so4 c; V. P5 x& g1 t& Z$ }& I
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant' L+ `! \ R* J5 s C, J. O. \
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless+ m! H# b7 t3 `' p1 T% y
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is% q" }0 C7 f" \" S: t' \" N
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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