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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
' a2 h9 B+ U! U1 L) \9 Sarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider! z" E! B! n' T6 n. l- A _. r6 U( Z
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"! \7 e2 w* n6 e: l+ v8 z' q
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
/ w& Y# q6 B7 n8 F# AAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
8 D/ d3 ~: w/ A: y9 T' S3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of- C: T9 ~: J) c, \3 W
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
4 e) s5 Z) Y1 M/ b" d9 C( @2 Bhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
' {; w' g& q; x3 n# [; keach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera) i; C( a& {2 k. T+ E
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is% y0 b. V" n% }" h. K
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
) V8 Y3 L/ }; ~; Z# adescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and. M( l$ c% u9 s( e8 W' F% V7 O7 v$ P
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
{( G2 x, o% |4 @4 xwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great" b. ^8 D* x. _" W. b- x* L
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
3 V/ Z' w {! C2 Z6 ?and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
7 m* b% }- S! E. }# t- w" Nhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
* E- T# E! d9 g6 z1 bof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
! L- X% o0 I/ u2 jno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
1 T( {! r0 ~! j B- C" t) aonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
. P; t; k. L' \; n) x6 E6 e6 z( A1 Tsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government6 c4 T0 h7 y( o" p# C
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
3 G, O& A1 y( N0 v5 y& [8 h, q8 Vto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is' R: z8 e9 i* U# }; [8 _( \5 I0 a) n
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
F% u W: \9 A. z5 R+ \$ c" Sthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are7 \2 A5 _+ Y" Y* O
still 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 to3 C2 @0 q$ F; e j! \4 K: o% t
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make+ U- L) D* q! A
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was7 _! Y& ]3 w! I
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
7 J$ v, m! m' Jparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across. L$ k3 i% s# A+ I: F
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 cultural4 W1 m3 [( t ~7 _3 i$ q
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for# Q: x& x# I0 x& O( } Q
development.
Hutongs
. t! f. [ b! y$ k0 F2 Sin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
v7 r8 y% D! ~' k7 pthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
% _4 I& l9 T5 p& D& Sin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not) n s8 j, l7 W. ]1 P
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you5 J d2 y6 J$ H4 O
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.$ j% c& N2 v5 ]% u3 _9 e8 e
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
$ e; W# `) x6 ^/ p; kto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used+ t& _6 `* U. g5 a3 U* Q
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
6 I. q3 K. o2 D& ssupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically8 x7 T- }. J! V$ N6 s
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
% b" p3 a8 s* q* ^live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, B3 ^6 A% n" j' f, u+ a
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
; G# j9 l2 K" \* l" q: fbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the2 D$ R' b8 H$ p; i# K6 V
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be- L8 W; ~) x3 E( h0 o) R
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong- ~0 m7 U; ~) A
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
' Z0 E2 U- r5 e2 J: {4 lpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be$ x' ~$ \8 u2 r9 w# ~
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
# g! k8 F$ z/ h0 V0 umemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
( l+ f! l% g: i7 xNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
' Y7 ]* Z2 ^9 a; z0 laligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially( q! K8 j) N. @
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
7 Q8 A5 S. g' U- \: `3 j( H* pof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
3 J/ j- r0 z b) pHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those6 z3 y9 h* V5 Y! ?! P1 a+ Z+ \
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
2 c8 a0 @: |- g! O* Jmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some$ `$ a& x6 D3 X( } D
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
6 T0 r2 O; Y+ p/ A1 J2 ^"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all/ Y( u5 ?1 k9 w% l
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise4 i9 x: w1 o, J, H; e8 }& l
apartments are the way to go? No.
. f5 x2 C2 d3 S* ~ 4 m4 D5 g$ l+ |' O
& a+ Z" ?3 R! D+ Z
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
5 U; U$ E% [7 N7 O. m5 Xsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
3 F& d+ d5 c' \' U'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
' n! D Y; {9 ~! x/ i* p2 Pno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
8 f- g- y2 \* m% C, N7 B. z: Xfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
& }/ \4 I3 P" m5 Tresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
7 [7 e" @2 O2 A5 _& SBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
8 [/ Y) E+ X: [unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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