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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
( v7 A0 D5 p: W! g- Earchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider" L, p. O( I7 V. a2 M/ S
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"# D( l* U* V# k+ Z; t n
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
+ O1 h, B* _! E. T, KAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
; T/ s6 k3 S2 z3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
6 g$ F2 n9 i$ _) e' O5 PManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within# _5 r& }+ V& i L" J1 k
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
/ A1 w6 V0 H/ k2 V9 _each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera% T- v' |; J' x) t
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
# p9 Y$ _- R0 j7 }; d5 w E4 Tharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are0 O9 Q# W" D5 W
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
, I: ~3 C- d$ O) ^# hforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I) \' w* [. H' Y# d
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
2 U9 R8 I3 ^2 |' j- ~0 i. ~8 k0 ximpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,0 Z& G3 f& U1 G, A7 c6 }
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong, w5 w- }( Y4 K& F! Q1 f+ |% L! i( ]9 M
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment# H% m0 Q6 P% t$ |+ W5 v
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
' B; W, n5 S. sno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
% `3 M* [7 R$ H, O6 r3 h9 Qonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
9 B5 G' ]9 y; p" Q% Y* |- }sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government! P- Z# {2 @8 i4 L
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move& W- Y& _- x# r" N
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is; _/ \1 g% K! ~6 W# Q. r
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,' Q. | Z! l7 r0 E. k
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are+ U' d2 o4 F2 l. F- j
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 to
' s* e0 o& t. T( d$ `7 J4 F4 M"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
0 ~ W5 l, \; ~! `& g6 h9 nmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was1 k: [- S: _6 Z0 J C2 J
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
, p. \. W! t& v$ x% z O# Hparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
0 ^, T- V3 G, b3 t2 Y' Ithe 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
, c, t! Q$ [$ kimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for0 F6 u) A" ~* | A5 [
development.
Hutongs
* S" t, F2 {2 c; J$ z6 Fin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
4 A& m6 {3 Y N) S! gthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
/ q. ]3 m. e1 E1 Q7 x+ ]# Uin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not# S$ y4 i& S* X9 s( V7 L
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
( Z0 Q* R9 m9 o2 swill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.0 e Z% z3 C# m" b9 d
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date9 O( i3 B% H. g$ |0 D$ c
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used5 Z3 ^! l3 P# K* }1 U( g
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
. m5 f+ ]) U7 y8 msupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
3 |/ {) ^1 { L1 iunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to( u3 w2 d6 q0 k, o* W: m8 o
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,8 ]$ K' U: }& W+ z2 k( ]" r
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the& B6 ^" s' H' J0 ]6 j+ V
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the0 b* y# _+ w* d' K
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
1 {5 D' t% @8 M1 Z' y% v- s& m5 Zrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
3 `) z- r; |1 h: u* `3 ^" ]) tMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how- b9 I" M( ]2 d R3 l& `
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
+ ^: z; O+ X/ `) W k# H* A, Btorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
6 k% J2 d" q0 ?/ w- Gmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".2 d1 K( A N2 {; J
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
8 g7 F2 {8 |( q2 s7 taligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially, l" G+ i0 o, x* U/ }% f( A+ m2 ^$ L. v
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image4 m8 ]. l7 S; O7 l5 I7 K5 ?
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these, f& v2 m! @; f1 p7 g
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those1 v( W$ h% l; u( G0 [+ M6 [
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
# e9 z( M2 R' ~4 h% Emay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some* _: ~/ B) |. ]. k0 @/ |
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before9 v" ?9 @+ z, b: \) I0 R. F" W. ~) y
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all% p2 E/ h' O- j4 I6 z5 v! u. P2 a' D
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
* q9 O+ [: s1 j, g) Rapartments are the way to go? No.
/ C8 z( ~) y5 \# ]
/ U5 V) A0 r/ \, E* D ; s5 `# b) E/ s
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
6 {( C+ f) J5 d6 [: F+ Vsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
" O$ ]; s! U( u' Y0 Y, H- B'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make! [( V; W1 W7 \! g' v
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so" s6 P# K$ O1 d' @# X
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant, {- }" u* C r/ q0 {
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless) T* X' t$ v9 R% u' c
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
& V7 v) ?/ t# ^4 u, Tunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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