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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, its7 c1 e: J+ H( C& l/ N" J) \3 J
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider* A4 O: j2 z0 [
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
% O$ q4 R& ~' @" mcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.- s# D/ R4 R( U9 Q' p; w; `
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
2 H" i7 ^8 ]! e2 @& ]' `$ f9 d3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of( L6 H4 V: Y0 Y' l; i) ?& Z
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within9 s& O# A9 m; P5 l
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
! ]8 S, Q& p7 P# M5 r. ~each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
) Q- L- e+ f1 z P% L1 Kand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
7 V+ w9 f$ D/ ^' s3 c" }0 Oharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are7 w3 C, |- z7 }: B- j# m9 b O
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and2 q- v% T2 O( _% r
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
8 B: t. s0 o' Q' u' [; ]was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
/ y9 @; W6 T) [0 i; B% timpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,/ z$ Z2 Y2 G# ?) b5 D5 G6 f7 t
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
8 x7 S# j/ C' x, X4 b6 ohas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
* y& |( N2 O% \of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that: y/ S( l+ ~) T, C% x" {
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
4 I- X4 g+ g8 v7 sonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
5 W' z! \: p# I0 z. v, p0 |sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
3 R' l$ t9 H8 B/ b0 K" L% A8 Twant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
4 \) F [* }3 P b% Eto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is5 d+ H: n9 F1 F5 i
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,# V" L! i3 S5 w0 o+ p9 D) F U% ?
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
. |' @# l2 y7 h& ?3 Zstill 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. q" T: a; G& U) }8 c1 Z
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
0 C/ N6 ~( Z6 Z7 A. s4 e) Gmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
+ d: S" R5 L: n Na beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a4 P- X& n i# {9 i9 t
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
+ _: h2 {" Z* E9 |2 ]7 d0 Kthe 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
4 a1 v+ G0 B- ]' f3 V' Himportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
; Z* A+ L' w; V& ?/ D! `! ddevelopment.
Hutongs7 J3 Z+ C3 ?. ~- ?- n! T4 t
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
( D& z6 s! d9 ]there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
$ c3 v8 Z8 P3 a' h7 g x! jin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not1 o( J' \1 _0 B9 t7 L: r
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
$ M/ e' Z% S# {0 S9 Gwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.8 L3 }5 j+ S& Y/ `, ^7 V
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
# e6 V: w6 M! p) C& D5 _to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
1 v6 b. C5 c" ]' Vto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses- ?; r0 X }9 Y4 {
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically5 p8 B! A9 o9 [ A: a: @4 h: i
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to$ K. a: L0 n9 i
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
9 @% a. q' I$ g( ghutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the2 Z( f+ q$ E F _! p
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
4 t+ ?1 @. @4 x. M B& i& K9 ?project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be1 Q8 ~% a8 O" u" b* W: a
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
8 x1 u3 o4 y# b/ n x7 r3 [Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
# t* _* s* c x$ @) }+ x3 R% F; qpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be6 F7 v. |! }6 Q4 b
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
, s0 K# w2 N# m5 A% Tmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
3 W s" H0 F$ C0 cNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
! y6 J! e. H2 F$ R( maligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
! @5 ~( A! c; S3 }, z' [% r: g( V- {non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image b9 A1 {$ ?2 i
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
1 u. t; O7 {- XHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
; `9 K! R: y% Ppeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they* T6 B6 {" L# P+ ~9 P6 L1 Y
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some) K2 @$ o* `8 j! a% C# `
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before7 l% Q) z9 u& B0 [' ~8 `
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
5 P+ ^+ u% T1 q) a3 n9 Y4 C% Y$ Apeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
6 P$ k/ Z. v/ Uapartments are the way to go? No.
" ~) j7 |7 W0 h" K2 P/ K , U' ]9 v, O3 c" K) N# Q0 G5 B; f
1 r" v6 F: s4 G1 @$ ?8 ^
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the3 t0 J( L! a) d4 I' v9 n( \ j
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
+ H; C9 x: g( h6 e- B'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
2 t; W" P# w Vno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
9 ]9 Q W8 W$ Kfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant" y- z: \* {# f, v
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
# m& ]) q( Z0 q) pBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
: q# j) V U: eunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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