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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
' c; b5 P |4 w9 Zarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider) g4 t* l7 f; k! m' [+ ]: f
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
0 I! o# O5 ]7 Icity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.8 u$ H6 n' C8 e) z
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,1 M$ ?- ^3 Z0 {2 n: v9 N( e0 X
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of9 J/ k( P& u: V! F; F
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
. e3 I- L4 c" X1 s& o( bhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
5 X7 p' { C& Z6 xeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera# D( `5 z; c; `0 W1 B
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
3 V: q* ?7 c0 e7 ~9 Jharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are4 s+ m% t. Z8 F
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and: h4 H. _: _& x" |; F) G$ C% W
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
- t, p6 C* R5 b0 X- o6 vwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
3 a/ V" e# o" a' R8 yimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,9 `, v0 [5 }9 H6 K
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
4 D6 @' l3 p: s1 E, t7 @; ^4 }" nhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment) I# K+ M% F& \7 F" E! J2 P8 o/ g
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that1 j7 z/ e1 g1 h. I9 f
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
?6 h1 L& [4 w: Konly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
4 E. t" B! n/ R& f- }4 s% p9 \8 rsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
" u& o) c8 R7 ? vwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move' A6 h( W. y1 @) X4 _
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is& [ P- m4 |) Z* q" y
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,0 K& y' ]( R9 k
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are& V9 D# \! \' G- L! R
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
4 M. Y* L. \5 s4 p"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make* A$ _9 H" p. }3 g/ v |4 C
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was) r0 g: f m' G! s! d
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
2 ^, D' I; t5 ^2 |7 L* g5 \parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
. p" ?8 n' \% u2 G" r' ~; z/ qthe 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; a* x- K0 N3 g: j0 T
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
( C4 K' b9 Y8 l+ h# b3 d/ c2 l2 Cdevelopment.
Hutongs+ F% _& W, I$ y
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
! O4 w( R! X4 C$ p4 F' X1 M. ?there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
% Q% Z* w0 k: d* Ein hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not8 r' F* \$ { S: j7 F
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you% z2 G3 _$ n/ V; @0 ~$ T; o
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.$ @/ T- }+ g' a4 u7 p8 w
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date/ }6 X0 i, j) y% D, ~0 a
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
; |" s. O( ^: H/ H: [) d' dto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
/ o; [4 D' A0 psupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically8 O+ Z. [* \- ^" s( ]; L1 M+ n
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
) g3 {4 ]6 J* \, Blive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
, d. b5 d* g f* Phutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the7 Y% x! t+ N% i6 K4 H' I
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the; |- T5 M2 a5 U# d# n
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
, K1 v8 F4 c. i& P+ }: Orenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
8 \! K$ k1 U# G4 o. zMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how# C& a7 R; O* z3 d
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be! l) f5 c( N# f* f% V" U% g
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished' F# f. e) y! p3 j
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".# w9 }( D1 W8 s
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are3 z: @6 E6 y4 j+ Q* ~- |8 A$ z
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
* Y( l2 H" a _# rnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
- w0 j' Y; ~7 I5 B9 a, F: W3 {. @( Wof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
" h0 l+ c$ X4 J9 ?' ?* \$ Z! n! DHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those$ k4 L3 U# m7 t3 f& [
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
. o/ W; M- W R8 }9 {! @may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some, v, U. n" w1 p! [) ]4 }( v
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
- \* B1 o, G, p"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all5 R3 ^6 ~, N: E; |
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise# z- ^& i6 w& V9 S/ }' _0 A
apartments are the way to go? No.
9 x' s. x& T% o% x' o5 k1 q 4 D5 G. X9 n/ u/ i* G
4 k0 d% D% O. s; A# D
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
/ L! I( b" ^/ H' r8 Isituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
$ J1 _2 r. l! {9 a* d; [# C'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make5 C! b g. t! _$ I* d$ c |! C
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
4 X+ ]0 n( g& D% ^! Z [fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant1 M2 P2 r4 C+ e9 K5 `( C7 }
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
1 y5 }$ O, [8 u1 ?% H& p6 WBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
' ~3 K3 j3 [/ H+ [, P& bunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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