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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
( P$ C" i. F* m7 [ ]" g0 |! }6 `& karchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider2 S3 E+ h* Y2 l2 r
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"6 |* U1 U) s9 B, N5 v5 T, I
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
3 Q3 N3 a$ o. T3 }' Y" X" rAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,6 F+ t2 G+ ?6 H3 N, H
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
$ o" h! j4 v' D! F' Q3 XManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within3 c" o/ j9 Q5 T
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among/ o6 p2 R6 Q( u6 ~, |
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
. M" ^: L2 t" ]$ a) pand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
* X. ]1 d% _' e9 \harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are& b9 @; g8 p0 {" V! W z: i
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
- j" L; S9 j7 K* A8 eforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
3 g; T' u7 C/ O1 nwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
. ]9 s. l6 [! L. k$ H# oimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,9 o* r& {8 g1 O
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong) L" B7 r6 y6 o0 c8 t" w% }5 K
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
z3 ?7 [; F# Q: r$ Y: j% m2 @* `7 Cof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that) D: P; r% o- s2 _8 }5 W& \; j' p
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
/ O L& [: Z! H* N# b4 Gonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a9 w' _0 X. t8 E A6 p) r& Y3 {0 y
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government# |) Q# D5 N& @
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move: M! X+ k& X% S) D7 \$ \
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
, Y4 c$ z/ P9 @& I3 i' G"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
8 r$ M/ n$ M7 L2 b2 f+ ~this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
2 Z ]0 }$ w! }. T' K% Bstill 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
: E8 H' R8 q: U$ P4 n"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
' F0 P4 }3 V* m: f: z0 n* F2 ]money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was& B5 O' {8 ^; j& R! }3 v& ]
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
) O4 K2 h7 O! @$ f! t T* xparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across Q8 N8 I4 V2 f: V# 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 cultural+ g; l. c. D+ T$ `" a- a7 t
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for, Z3 T! Z; o7 l/ ^* t5 ?0 O
development.
Hutongs
* I7 z" E D% J' B$ H Oin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
9 U! |. ^" A( o- q* x% u; t! mthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions% E# A: T$ R; g4 R
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
1 ]# h" P" e6 C7 yhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
' }* j0 t+ K0 Q+ _will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
8 j3 K! I: Z5 m# G6 Z, iFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
+ p; t5 r7 p# h$ c: H3 M0 Y Eto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
6 x) b( s+ j4 z+ f( Kto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
- U5 p: {/ w% ssupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically2 a2 F* I- Z$ o7 @7 N. F2 n
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to/ W! `* j0 { w( ^9 A
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
0 {# K0 f4 Y |/ v3 nhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the* @) C: \, Y5 q+ g) K
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the1 U9 G b8 P$ l' i
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
) O$ ] k2 Y3 u) l+ P0 u8 ?; mrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong C' `8 n& b6 p) w7 K& B! c
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
6 p* U- _* Q5 W: `6 fpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be7 |- @4 K1 c3 {( s
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
/ g. T( y1 d* z+ I& r4 Pmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".: m8 `8 t8 s5 Z9 ~, o
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
* I3 `4 [& l4 Q1 Zaligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially' O E% D% t$ C2 S' H0 n9 e
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image1 @' Y7 ^" V" k( X
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these3 h! N; j+ D, j( P/ P
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those$ p I# a7 a9 ^# ^0 o; B1 q
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
9 M1 u M8 A( D& A8 m! @may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
( F0 a: x' }& K0 h, C/ Sof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
4 h0 ?! } b" M( q3 g0 P4 V6 p+ `"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
9 |/ E o+ L' `3 D0 {2 xpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise( I" |8 F, z) H
apartments are the way to go? No.7 L4 P9 m0 y* T g8 a' O( G
! U$ t1 F" H6 _+ s% @8 W( J
. M/ @3 e. Y$ D4 l, u; s' d
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the! H2 b& N4 O. s( t) B/ m1 S; r/ I
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this8 U# L# \2 u9 V1 G/ `
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
# [) X& T- r0 J& M$ u# f5 Dno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
$ b: @" e; _2 X: ]fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
+ Z6 y/ F3 v# u3 D% C( r6 H' ^6 m: eresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless" s( l2 r3 m* i0 r; A
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
% W( X8 y# g' g' t0 \) Runlikely to happen too. Sad!
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