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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
( M$ J3 o4 x1 M, y$ B) M+ v2 F3 P- k# Marchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
1 g/ _6 @6 S9 u0 H% h$ JBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"9 G" L7 ^' x* u
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
v; j+ t4 Y" ?" S. JAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
7 z* }: d# A# F3 c A v3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
3 N- w9 y: O4 v ]) E- zManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within2 c( W7 S/ f4 h1 C! t
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among' N. M( Z, L8 P- `' y( Y) G& r
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera6 \/ ~; v$ p0 j
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is, Q# X3 Z- L7 ?5 K+ ~7 {& n
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
# \4 K! H' b5 I' i$ V1 Vdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and- a" @- a% A( G3 K) m8 }
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I: }6 ^9 l6 w/ O. v
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
6 m# L6 r& r. x% U/ jimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,$ Z# H0 W* a$ \4 Y
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
3 r+ M5 Y: }3 I1 w! J3 Q' [has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment) v, R; J4 o# ?# v; K( F
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
' K; @: Q$ v9 p3 Z# l" l) _no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
5 {: g' P2 R7 W$ W+ b) c/ xonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a$ C8 a; D2 O( p% [
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
! P5 q; v: A- [8 e5 Q# Xwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move, k6 p3 d& O4 X' n. e( P* M0 \" k7 D
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is1 y9 W0 h6 H& g& }
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
& `0 d2 `* o1 F, \( w" ^this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
- W# E' V% S* R* X9 v* 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 to
+ I- t) p" D3 E/ z& a: p"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make9 w. C) @1 @$ h, c5 }6 @3 v* [
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
, t) f* T/ g0 S A. [a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
% P1 V% T$ E- V5 Rparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
9 N) t+ i6 a% @# c; Y5 j3 C: S( rthe 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
. y% L, ~8 u6 Eimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
5 X. G3 r8 w9 |, M& P& ~. ~" Kdevelopment.
Hutongs
4 @& m V8 _* f6 h( d Ein the old days were residential area where people actually lived8 D3 J9 w4 _& W+ x, c F
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions. Z6 z5 V8 _- {& u9 J
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not- c3 M7 T6 {$ G. A* @
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
/ _( M6 W9 ~ i1 Nwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs., }; f6 k3 u/ I' K
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
6 F0 W0 |, F; V: N P4 E* mto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used& J t! N0 ~* r6 i) w4 ^) M
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
- W( H) c) s' y% O- n- X S" Tsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
# J5 s& j/ S% Y! b6 T% L2 gunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
* P4 v& d. A" m& zlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,$ T) B/ P* r( Y/ B
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the4 _+ Q' M! V. P% @
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
* v; p- V4 c' h& Y; w; U6 Tproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
3 V( P4 ?' @6 brenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong! f* z' j7 d$ S9 y1 A
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
& x& p$ b" J fpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
3 G0 A2 E2 ^: V4 F# o5 u/ ctorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished/ z1 j9 v+ B- q
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
4 P! [& O1 @" F9 Y% VNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
* S8 ?1 \ C6 R% f+ r' Paligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially4 ? y: {' f) K/ `$ U" w
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image4 l% T9 q) i! A( R& ~8 K
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these4 s* h3 V3 v! f d8 E
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those! D4 ]8 D. h* D3 Y1 I, ]
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
+ [- }' ^& {) z+ j, Q. C; L/ j+ w- `+ lmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
" R! A1 ~- `# `of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before+ W" g3 J$ L, e0 ]
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
7 i( w9 T$ _/ X, y: e. gpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
" ]( s: M; @! g1 O& s; \apartments are the way to go? No.$ ~2 ^. h( G' {1 m
0 d6 I0 V* J& Z0 i% R( x$ b) A9 L
9 I0 P9 Y# e& d
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the4 O. U; ^& |9 n, J
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
: H q: q4 R0 {'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make# B6 ?* k# `7 b, `
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so* p9 n: f7 }; [9 B- |, u' f
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant- Z3 a8 k+ B8 N% `, k4 c' o
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
9 I% T9 |+ K* hBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
+ O( p$ a- p" V/ ~ funlikely to happen too. Sad!
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