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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
$ K# I. B& n; V; F* sarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
1 B$ S+ {* d# \( yBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"* O, x7 ?8 y% K& M! v
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.9 l7 T2 c/ G! }3 E; L4 w: K9 F5 _
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,5 z, R: @! x4 f& r( z1 _6 w% @
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
7 Q7 K' F. ^/ f! BManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
7 \# ^2 L( X7 ^& ~8 T/ r( G) W2 Nhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among5 G& N; ?+ X9 @; \; g
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
" z( X$ J3 l% P) m/ Oand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is$ b/ Y' j* T- F; x. v
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
7 @" [5 ?' C! J* W0 Zdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and$ p* M% [+ Z7 D& Q3 H' w4 ~
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I# q; l2 X3 B1 e
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great6 |5 H) \" R5 G
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
! @; y- Y$ v# N! ?& Y# oand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong; v5 s: d0 k7 L" z
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
( l$ o! W/ V# D1 yof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
8 l9 e# C7 c- _, J! ~7 Cno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are; e4 [) q( a0 a
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a& O p* e7 }+ \* a" U8 h( B9 D
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
" k4 E6 E( g( ?. B0 n2 vwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move/ d+ w3 L L+ f* i
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
; u' R/ G$ [9 ~& ^6 c7 r% ~* h. N"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,4 {) B) S9 U+ j; A
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
6 j8 V6 A: e1 Cstill 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
9 w( }1 N, P/ H E# k"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
8 M- m7 t/ q" L5 Z' n; `' h" R1 @money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
" {# X/ j& {" J2 L0 B( c& z: Xa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
3 @2 L9 i) [# w3 \ |& `! @" z; Rparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
% r) b+ y& S3 p' {9 y; Q! t$ T* ?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
1 g4 S% w: y9 m5 J( e8 ]importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
: t7 K4 W3 j' e( p5 _& ]6 u( {development.
Hutongs% D* {* s5 {* ^
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived) p7 B0 S9 G6 M" w/ B
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
9 a. {# j' P- m) _3 s. E5 D! ^in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not( o; J! |& s/ B0 C
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
' o. b; l9 ?, d. q8 awill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.6 T- c' i1 h; h. l0 v0 m K
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
/ M* l3 Y* Q1 K& Z- v3 R8 wto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used" _0 S- x C7 A! r/ u
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses8 b2 F& a# U9 R: I) T& |9 a$ r+ v( d. V
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
* o2 N2 G- G/ y* i G7 w4 L0 Munfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
9 c2 K, b9 a( R$ y; h0 dlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,0 i$ h1 j- F8 T9 \
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the0 C! i6 N# d" t5 E+ U
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the% N e* H7 S5 e0 z3 W6 V
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
0 g7 C' Q; A! ]9 ]renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
3 u& }* S. o+ {8 b QMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
: k! Z. V+ l) |/ T. y; h' k9 p, opeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be% b b3 ?2 P% Z, h
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
/ I6 {3 c4 l( S, ~0 i$ p0 gmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
/ D( ]! L& x+ {0 A1 H- [$ [Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
3 }6 i! Y* \8 x" J/ `, R- Yaligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
+ D$ k) \: I, J0 g8 Znon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image* ~; U. R5 M, \
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these3 {5 z' {- E" |
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those9 T( E; P7 c' H# ^- U3 M/ l
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
; z8 J& G5 J0 m1 \may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some7 v- G% h: Z0 d7 c! t: @
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
) O8 p1 c1 A8 Q1 V"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
- d5 _2 q8 s$ ]* t1 xpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise1 R+ k/ e* k) n. j- `4 e
apartments are the way to go? No.
@1 N6 \% x6 l5 K1 V& m7 C
( B4 T1 I% a' z- Z
/ Z9 Y6 c7 Y, j( o3 R B6 j- e
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the/ M2 C; h- S4 D
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
3 u6 ?6 y8 M" y& w0 i7 R: K'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
) n* E+ d# N4 d6 mno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so7 `% O% X' S5 Y
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant" T1 ?6 L, s2 y% L3 V8 f
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless( T4 u3 h" W1 x$ F4 y
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is) K/ ~* G- d7 g+ p- {
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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