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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
1 q0 W% J$ h! F( I/ Earchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider. a6 I# T: ]1 k& s* c
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"" H! z- n! Q* ]5 f
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
( B6 ^9 ~1 [( g; ^1 J: t1 [According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
' J1 Y1 S- ]& E5 q: b- b) y3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
+ o% d+ ^+ u2 S7 Z+ ?% x8 zManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
8 k( O5 g$ [7 j! Fhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
, }$ ]6 o9 A' h; B$ b$ a O% y+ |each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
0 Q0 l6 x2 W, _, k$ q8 @and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is1 @: H! |7 P* M4 _
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
1 I0 y v. [4 d/ T+ `1 c% xdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
# c2 j% F% U4 B) p& bforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
O7 x1 a6 \8 w8 v( A8 Y2 xwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great6 |, ~8 [* j. N) @' d
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
8 f- x1 l" {5 {' sand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong @0 F) \; @3 Q; c, J* g4 d
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment) U4 K- N+ v' G8 d* l. K
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
e9 z; v0 M% dno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
+ ~4 n. y$ z2 ^only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
! S& _, l- x, B3 Rsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
% p/ g6 |. A6 Qwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move9 z% u4 O# h: V
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is! \8 I+ F5 q6 B, P
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
* G* i0 n. F- mthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
2 ~$ \( Q% ?( O9 O" Q7 i: Xstill 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 to2 _' E B- z; P+ t' N
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make3 u) J l+ N( \' o
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was3 | S5 t4 D4 [
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a! n- l1 O. B; N7 h0 Q
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across- @% T4 y- M* \2 v/ V- I1 B/ \
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
" L% T) E4 E% ]0 i: ?9 [* Qimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
9 A) u# n5 S; M* C" z" o' Idevelopment.
Hutongs
7 d5 X0 t1 _6 f$ lin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
6 }2 V! o+ O9 h5 @there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
/ R' m5 D4 a! ~in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
9 k3 X; }* G ]& t8 N" v/ s7 c: Ihave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you6 ?( ` x2 b+ D# m- Z
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
, h$ C4 ^6 I* L1 ]5 cFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
$ C. T- t) \4 J8 Q: xto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used- C+ v2 m. J0 J$ k5 D: ?
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses3 c% Q M, ^- u. m- g0 I
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically5 B4 o* d# \9 [% c
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
5 Z- x) b: z+ X2 _live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
* P. Z- L. H* C7 s* h: @. _hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the& C3 e: W7 t( z
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
9 U: ]: I+ Y/ Vproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be# h Y3 e9 d3 `8 w) a! u# r0 c
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong+ C+ a, a! l1 D% a$ h+ V; a- U+ j
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how ?$ e, T, u4 E. d
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
$ A4 n- a- N1 w! H! U8 X& t& G4 U, ?torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
, a5 }6 u0 I3 P% ?" v! ?memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".8 }. O, g( J6 M
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are$ I: u" K+ v7 B4 `2 \
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially+ c# }2 ?! v/ I% L! B6 m
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image% t8 m# U1 g* Z
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these' T j) W" j& {( I( Y& w/ ]2 ]9 ?
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those% g7 J$ _. a4 R( f- g
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
" r6 l' M7 n% M1 b2 b+ Cmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
# z. T/ D) p6 T- Yof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before, g$ _3 V1 ]$ Z0 o
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
3 [# h3 {0 A5 ]/ ?5 }people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise; X" H0 e( c& a
apartments are the way to go? No.
2 K' o# q; f; {! o0 {. |& Q
. N) ^1 W' g) j% {, g2 }0 g! \ 7 U7 r M" w% X, b4 e4 {1 X3 v
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the1 _; n O3 e3 R% A! N
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this5 `% ]" ~0 `- F- R! n
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make& T! n/ u3 j l- c2 w; c6 s
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
( Y5 A! X4 l* zfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant* ?4 P4 w$ P' i
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless6 j5 ~. G& Z$ u3 Z! h
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is( N$ b, I" p- h+ H3 z" P
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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