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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! V5 d! J4 u/ s5 K& S
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider r- `% F: Z. o R* [4 R
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
" A7 V7 P- Q, A4 X+ ^city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
2 f& R9 ^" Y, c3 r- {6 D" VAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
1 n6 x1 Z' I: a1 q% R# S3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
8 n+ J+ o8 E% R- c1 W+ gManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within0 d- n0 H) m! M
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
5 m; ^1 J- r+ ieach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera4 X+ v5 N% ^9 [. o+ y
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is8 [4 e/ @$ G5 J# `
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are* R9 N& x$ q! ?& D& |/ q% @4 }
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and' W$ x7 V9 \3 P1 ~6 b7 V$ N% f
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I5 ?& @% `8 m$ B7 F/ t
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great2 F+ F! c4 w! w+ ]
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
* ]" A: n1 T% x1 Gand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
( A$ p) o0 Y; j yhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
4 Y2 ?/ c6 w7 k- c4 Cof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that0 G8 D, h: J) x" I0 U# ~
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
5 S6 Z. U5 C% Z z* s6 Ronly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a" H) r6 F% K I3 N- }
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
1 X3 G5 g( @5 z- C. e. \+ N7 ^ H9 A6 }want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
) h$ \: x& c& @; E, i( e( ~to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
; v& X& J* E4 T. U. l+ U"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,0 U0 t- f& q2 F0 x% p& N. T- o
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
! X6 N" X* N6 o7 J7 _0 Estill 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( J, b# J+ l. K/ [. `
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
, P2 A* q- I1 ]4 zmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
5 z$ k3 D3 k E6 C! |/ Wa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a6 J i# ]7 |" j! Y; d, {9 x+ x
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across8 l% x5 M& | {
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
" Y! T8 C* l; @8 s1 Mimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
4 h! C3 ^- v4 B1 G4 U, B( n% tdevelopment.
Hutongs
# ^# P6 k% {1 \! bin the old days were residential area where people actually lived) A. m! a& c" ]3 I
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
: v2 j/ D7 @( Q, Qin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not4 ~& o" t" L2 ]" O/ Q4 A
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
) ~& U3 `" ~# A2 h7 @will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.4 U$ u& J+ G4 R% v6 v, v9 Q! ?# m
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
0 z% B5 W0 |4 lto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used5 q7 H# Y0 ^8 w4 t4 x, ]
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses/ P0 R! d5 V) O' u' A
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically$ {& X: w* o% J- O- d9 x% w: ^' _9 Z
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to o; i: }9 E, e2 B. ~: M
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,, D8 t8 F7 X7 V% \( T
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
" i# M, |. Y" J# | mbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
" H" ]; u9 i$ Z7 S! ^1 a) k# k' u zproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be, l1 C7 l# C6 l( f3 A. m
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
6 F0 m, Y2 j9 y7 i1 C5 Q( g* _; }Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
" L! q/ Q2 R# ^5 Ppeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be" h @3 { k Y0 D* ^) T4 |
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished+ p, @. G+ ?* R9 O" o/ F
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
3 r5 v- T: a( V ANothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
) n2 b4 I- j3 }: C- h galigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
2 W! Y+ f; a1 E+ R& S8 Hnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image$ w- H( r) D$ f. t ?: s9 ^4 R3 k
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these6 D1 N) d7 s/ C! r6 |6 Z
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
3 X8 d3 J$ G8 t2 |7 U- ~5 D! dpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they( R) I) N# S9 N6 u( y8 ^
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
$ z6 X; g) t$ o, V% ^of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
/ _) q" C6 d) k h3 K6 K1 ^) G"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
* Z! U4 p: S! e- D9 a, Speople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise3 S: J6 ?, Y6 V7 D# V$ _$ T6 R: D2 ^
apartments are the way to go? No.
! O D% r h# ~# \# _0 K
$ }3 _! \ l) E5 v2 e- ^* l* E
: n- q; @. E5 m% z
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the9 ]) {$ |# K; ~0 z0 Z, S( o7 K2 f
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this3 y+ X: ^ ^ [
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
; F( x; \- e- A7 _; L/ \3 yno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so8 r0 F `2 h" r
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant$ i" c, s: g5 l/ x5 ~) F; u+ V
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless) E/ \$ y8 J8 R" q' X
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is/ l: Q; w+ Q0 a8 a# f/ Y7 a
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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