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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, its5 f4 o7 U- A; _7 {; _% z
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
6 C8 Q! s. T ~8 S) [Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
6 U4 R( o5 A% s, G5 y( Ecity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.7 n: ~7 u' [+ b2 Q/ g8 o& t
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
5 F. f Z5 h: c0 }( A: d( N$ ^$ I! r3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
% m/ F% }# }* b! z X0 L' ~9 v% sManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
. m0 V; d& D# {& Uhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among, O$ ]9 U# C! _* ?$ U4 h3 Y$ ~5 w
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera5 [# `7 R2 F+ |
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is( p8 d, n$ v8 g
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
: O) z0 O8 b6 udescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and8 E+ {, ]8 K8 a
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I8 }3 k. K: m/ K
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
: R1 M$ z; B0 `, H. k$ [: wimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
. e7 v( Z; n- h. yand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
" Q' i% I+ y& ^) P, l5 shas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
! V* _+ _! v3 d3 D/ \; tof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that7 r% g4 }( q' [5 y2 i' u
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are% x. s/ Q+ ?; Y9 D) r7 t! q" r
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a; z# p/ {! f* [' G C) F
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government& R% |& L6 U/ H
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
1 @1 N* y" I: s1 m/ ~7 I4 f; o% Nto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
1 h, H. |( `. ~0 h( q$ u"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,$ Y' e6 `, ^! z4 @8 Q
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
S! `4 D0 g% U! Jstill 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
( w, `: [5 o b4 ]1 Y$ P"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
- `; ?+ X* Y& F' v& kmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
1 x# J! x- V9 L+ v% \a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a* c" M0 g4 t8 A
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across: P% Y8 i9 T( f1 M. M+ o J
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
! I8 P/ x2 x2 c" |4 {$ M, uimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for7 e3 b# {0 U, K3 Z. {
development.
Hutongs
" G+ t+ H7 a4 Y) _- ^in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
: P, }9 i- h: J' kthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions2 Z4 Y# p- e- |" a9 B8 Z1 t
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
5 {4 p/ T! f/ g! N8 Hhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you& b8 I5 q: s+ q: O* t, s
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.$ s! ~! |& q2 g* B# p! C) Z
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date$ y% P; o! t2 O4 B3 f! c" R
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
" F+ |! G# l' S# C. zto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses! H. y+ J" T+ S/ |; c( \
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
* }: v% \: c" M2 Z) J3 Qunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
) G5 W! z, ]. Z8 Blive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
( w X# ? B2 Y/ M/ mhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
, [4 m; K: w2 Z' R7 ~$ t* }balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the. g$ B2 q+ c! l) \' q
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be) v- [" |/ h$ I" E4 d
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
8 A- B$ N* {7 k& U' RMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
, G0 O9 d& t* C& W) D, @people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
1 y5 J# x% L, k; _6 C* htorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
! S Y0 x- v# S! G3 J% ?0 y( b, z1 y) dmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
! F+ l" l: ~0 [Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are) U" @! @, r7 _. K8 y6 `
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially9 j0 B/ _# c7 s/ k% I
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
- x) v4 s1 U( _% N7 L3 o2 yof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these( H" `' f4 S* o
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those' W' N8 b1 }5 V, t
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
# @. k' D( ^9 s) d; Imay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some( @4 |4 e* C' j7 L
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before, E" p* T- T# W' ?8 z3 _
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
, }2 {$ W( l W, C) Ppeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise V+ M! z9 ~; ]- J
apartments are the way to go? No.
5 ]- M1 \/ G9 L7 e6 ^
/ w, P+ s a: p6 e ! k/ c" b1 \( H3 Y7 C
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the1 ~4 D% E; n8 u% V
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
. J7 v7 t# S4 e* I* ?'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
# H S% j/ ] q4 |% c9 [" x9 ano money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
6 K) R0 N$ T% ~fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant( G" j6 k% @( n) N* @( j! J9 ?
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless- |" A0 i% a! M& U. j; h5 f+ a
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is* E. Y0 p5 W, i0 A$ M
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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