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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, its0 W2 o8 F4 O* M" A. F5 v' z
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
4 L: g, A# `: O6 gBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"6 K7 Q9 v5 I2 P! x8 e
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
* }6 X1 b3 w$ m) A! f( u* V9 [According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
- b8 p5 { V; H( V: p9 ]7 J3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of- U) ^5 |5 `6 q+ ?, y
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within/ l& \; z+ ] \ `* f9 ~+ G8 O
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
@, D1 U6 o1 T+ Zeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
* P& w# a, o2 ^1 d1 j4 hand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
' J/ Y, Y4 @. q1 H8 fharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are, N: Y6 P6 ~% M4 \$ s
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
' R7 O+ D+ [6 Q1 Bforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I1 m( U9 h& p% {" P: D
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
5 z5 K" e* U3 v% l4 g/ Simpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,8 [. K- b: f6 g4 Q
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong/ q: I; ~( R5 }; P& W7 C* q6 Y: S
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
" }! t2 J- N: w6 X2 i4 f1 aof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that+ e7 G- A- b$ W2 e) w
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
) N& y8 o j3 k- J1 L/ Qonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
- X3 p+ N# P7 S' v; Isort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government% h! [4 M7 t6 b) O* @9 m
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move* b) f! ^4 i1 y9 E: H( l) ?
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
1 M( s* u7 b5 c2 S6 ?; I: x"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
# _7 ~, |# r: N8 X9 E; K3 nthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
! A2 u$ X5 p( l& Ustill 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 to4 p/ r) m" \- o, q/ u9 k7 o
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make& v$ r6 @/ T% T, {8 q
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
9 W/ t6 X" A- i. U5 M+ H$ ?) Ha beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
; X* Y+ m; Z J- H) O& J" Wparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across9 `# [& W" \) A1 T( { r
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
6 ^/ u( T0 q+ }& C4 ?# ~importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
# r8 k' s2 S7 v2 y( C3 fdevelopment.
Hutongs4 q3 Y/ i9 {; ~$ e
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived. m0 z- d l% Y
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
9 F' H$ ? Q {5 [/ R+ Kin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not; U6 e# |: N5 J& A0 S: |8 v" G2 \
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
% ^" ^% G& p3 g# owill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.! u" o' A; l/ i
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
1 ~% o2 @0 X' V+ h/ vto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
" C: ~, W) ]- A2 q3 }- Lto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
3 o9 I8 R3 o' z3 Usupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
# c/ B* H' W! k! A8 m( b3 ?unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to& h& v& M5 O# s/ ]
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,' U/ U( T2 e! d, X. }0 E( M
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
0 X! j9 R$ B; Z" b& kbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
0 V' U9 B7 R# X0 Kproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be4 x! R5 T/ g% o
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong; E, h% W( i. {8 H4 c) v9 b* t- E
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how9 E3 N) X, B$ `5 G7 J0 W, {
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be, D! I" b8 R! C& r
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished' h; P6 y7 `. C) I- O+ L
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
+ k2 g' A" y, _Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are6 N: ~" u; ` }% G! N5 P: ~, z
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially1 q$ y# g% U$ q' V8 O3 Z
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
8 t( k" A# `& ]; l( J$ cof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
2 j; m; L' O! R) h( PHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those7 ?( B6 b# f& t1 }, s7 q( \% c% j
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they( m' a6 c( q( S* m3 }' ~ a5 u* y m
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some& ~: D6 I1 Y2 u( ~1 T
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before1 f& ]+ R: C7 P- O* q% \* f* A
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
1 q# A) n/ ]& J' ppeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
' i& f5 n" v! t0 E J* tapartments are the way to go? No.
7 [$ P1 i2 ]" `* Z6 c$ v4 O& N
X% d& S5 \6 W# B; z( [5 d& a 5 I0 D5 d( k7 _
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the1 H' N+ `( Q" w2 p5 _, d, [
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
/ P+ t# T- T1 k; n$ d( @1 [! N'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
7 |) Q- Y$ D7 A( qno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so; U, L+ e" V y8 n
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant6 d3 x( B) K; w" S
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
+ w3 t# v g* T" MBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
- \6 g; _" O" k4 ~, bunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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