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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
6 A+ n9 k/ _2 m3 f marchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider X7 X- o3 ~5 f
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
- ?/ J4 e3 G" W5 t3 S- ]' J* jcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
5 i# V8 S) G9 a% `% w9 i% QAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,4 X; }- j8 N3 e1 R) V
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of M* T5 ^+ s* V
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within3 v1 v* z1 e; z: z/ k! |
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among7 e0 q2 _$ N3 O$ [6 c
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
% x# u4 g! l0 b1 b5 j9 a* F aand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
3 R9 C8 B( s# K! yharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are2 W8 d# P( f& S' C; C
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
7 c7 N: L, N% Q( X, u+ `0 I. Nforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I2 A7 F$ P3 c% c# u( ?( O) u
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
% _! w& f P' E9 e! b% ]impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
3 \' Z% {5 I; F. r4 m5 Pand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
) `, q$ b& h& U( A' d4 k2 E ~has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment2 A7 C3 w- B) |
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that9 d8 I: G: ^. C ]
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
B/ E) A6 o Ionly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a8 Y; {" J# X$ L9 I* P2 [) ^
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government7 l5 o- H+ c G3 X, ]6 c
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move' O9 u9 Q' J9 `; U% d
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is% u; B7 }, o' e, c% ]
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
( G3 B# S- I% K7 q* D" r5 ~this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
. N- }( x1 c q- 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
4 P9 H$ X/ j' j"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
/ t; P/ M1 f' F$ U7 P! Jmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was x. ]3 M$ D3 \& Y9 G6 z
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
) ?5 c i! a5 |) ~) f2 ]0 ~parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
; o1 b+ `( x- ^7 X1 z& U8 w% x5 z6 @/ zthe 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
% ?, _ o6 h4 e4 F$ fimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for! j! b! c$ K7 w3 K i
development.
Hutongs
3 \# M+ K j- V- g3 Y4 t# [7 Rin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
1 o4 Z3 T2 m# j- bthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
; i7 f3 c+ ^7 z. Lin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not! \1 ~* Y! t9 t3 b
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you3 n0 Z( {7 [; e# v# ]
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
( o! h2 ^% ~4 xFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date# q! Y9 o! s& n& N% t6 S: i
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
1 @; U& @# F V2 x. T3 P, Vto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
( w ]7 Y6 G3 [0 |2 |; c; B3 |9 csupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
7 Y; H# _$ D# t+ F# [+ _( \unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to8 ^# c& W8 C/ f0 y, |7 l
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,2 ]; j# d2 v: ^. h6 V
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
p* W) Y$ G2 o$ w% zbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
$ O9 F7 P- b! t; O3 g4 nproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
5 ?" \6 Q5 a# L+ s. L4 F6 Yrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong8 a4 g: K. ~! n
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how3 [' E" w$ [2 h: Q4 C
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be; `/ e& d" q8 [5 w2 p$ ^
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
& ~3 e+ o8 d7 v; ]; o: }memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
3 N+ z1 K \. U: E9 nNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are1 x! h/ A$ S* k: A! ~% m4 q( K! ]
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
& o1 K( v0 U* b; F5 M1 ~5 Cnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
8 s4 d1 W |+ r6 O% H2 r: }: Bof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these. k3 [1 t5 \2 r9 {$ H
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
: a1 k G n/ i1 J+ M8 epeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
- {; B- B( J" S; v' v; s v8 |may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some7 @4 ~0 t$ }( O! L5 R: g( W
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before9 |5 d" S* g& L
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all8 u& ~: D% Z7 m" f2 O$ i
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise7 w" t( x- C: M8 l6 e; F
apartments are the way to go? No.
7 j" L( l+ i. I2 \2 T) q1 ~
* \- U$ w G& q) p- S
/ c P, _3 o: a
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
|- Y: f2 b4 T! c# Psituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this* o0 {: k! d! Y* h
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make( [+ R( \3 [) E1 ?. e
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
9 @) g; n$ f, z( }fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant# m- p J5 L8 c& o6 ?+ M
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless j( H! ^' x p$ a
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is! e8 ]1 E5 b* Z( h: G% `1 U
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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