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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
5 \/ I; Z; R) F* [0 Parchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
8 |' X E# r1 QBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian", }3 M) a5 {6 H9 C7 B
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture., ^ m0 r3 D& ~% y9 B
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,4 G: ~5 |( M) n) @. S" ~
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
/ _. g+ d# c) u2 P7 |) aManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
& D- J# m8 [; F, u6 A( x8 M) D+ ]hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among- r7 g7 n* K) L, D& Z
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera+ ?+ v# w6 _& U4 P+ s Q
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
6 @9 x% G: ]9 {1 T( m+ lharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are* b' E1 i- j( D% {
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and5 S1 z% J( w6 j5 b8 |
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
6 i) V, U* Y4 `" h: swas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
0 h' u S4 G, O6 @- ?9 x# dimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,+ B4 I* N) M* R! h% [1 f
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong, F G+ \3 C; s. u( m" L: g
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
1 N) P$ b' z$ P1 H c" }9 Kof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
* J2 J0 C$ t( |3 Z7 Z& D! R- ?, L* f5 Y( Tno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
3 F, k P, V# p1 S9 d1 [# ~only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a8 b9 l- r: s/ A1 S- `+ q
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government, M9 P. l" `. R q5 }+ E
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
2 W. N0 `4 F) g5 V* y8 ~to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
) O/ h4 y$ c% d2 L* |2 k: Q. c"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,2 {5 O8 J, `6 e6 }7 }5 B( ]3 b
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
. Z f9 a7 p2 J8 p, ystill 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
& X' Y6 L8 `) b2 u"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make% V( r) }0 z j; f. v3 C* e* ^# ~
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was4 P0 U1 S/ f9 l6 X
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a) f' ~" j7 a% e e8 ~4 u8 l% U. V0 c7 j
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across) R: F( X' I1 s" }+ q* G$ o5 C: ]; ~. ?9 B
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
% L- R' Z3 \8 S+ b6 [9 ?importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for! O" r1 h( E$ `: i& k
development.
Hutongs* O. a; {2 t. ]
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
8 I; R# a$ F: ]; M' nthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
8 ^% v3 h4 @! C8 h6 Y* zin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
0 u& Y% x0 j) Z! l+ n$ Q# Ahave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you; B* T- N8 m# K3 R
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
; B4 z8 M: J# ]6 ]: I% BFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
, l9 O1 v# [ p% Mto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used7 a/ D0 b1 Z* J1 |) I: Y S) i+ X
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
- G0 U$ j. X" \* E. osupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
( x- L/ a w5 [' G3 q2 uunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to% C; ]# `8 W; W% I7 \7 T& |
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, ^$ a/ Z" z7 } F/ u5 N7 C8 P$ @; i
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the3 w8 E! g% _1 U# q% g
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the" Q- @7 y- ?* @8 f0 o
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be$ K z3 @# w" k$ Q" O
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
( K: W$ d: N/ v9 z' o( W6 cMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how, {- B$ o1 L6 p8 _) u1 ]
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be$ \! A+ T# |: @. D/ X( e
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
5 a8 V' W' O. ^0 Tmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".0 P9 a7 f1 N% n
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are/ v5 K6 l$ l, ~8 j( e+ I
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
+ f" `1 s( q$ p: \; ~ I& {0 F$ [non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
3 S7 S# C# W5 |. U" yof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these7 p0 c7 w' @8 D7 ~
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
- r9 V8 g/ `5 T3 o% j- wpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
" b- F. I- f+ x1 ]9 _& Lmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
9 F2 D" ]3 _% o% a* pof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before9 B; N3 B6 o% e. o" N7 K" m
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all8 y" b, x1 u6 ^: t2 `2 v8 q# j
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
+ U: b: I: k* {. A, Eapartments are the way to go? No.+ V; X3 Y$ q& V
1 D# E; F% Q. b 7 K5 f, l; p: v5 }
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the6 h9 n; W' A, v/ V3 X4 q! e
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
$ B/ q$ \% t d) H'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
, ], x% I, \$ R' Xno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
. u( H- |# ^% e" [: x- d; ffast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
/ z- z( u- N& o, Z% q7 {! N7 zresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
3 I) c1 Q! |) x( [* ^Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
( O9 c+ Y- H' h+ E$ q+ l8 }unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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