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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
( N3 N& B7 a2 N% X* warchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider9 H7 s, s* Y8 k/ _
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian") s! n6 K. o3 W3 ~1 ?$ k
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.3 v& v5 V- y/ x3 }8 S
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,1 o2 @2 {# E4 \, i$ }
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
2 G4 |! `) u: {6 w- I0 V# I! H6 M6 ~4 jManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within+ }* s- g; I( }2 x
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among: \! |% E8 c k
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
' D2 u' T2 ^! u, b! O) Oand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is" A+ _: [- R4 r% S
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are' e; N9 m8 R/ ~# K# f* q
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
' S+ _$ {" _5 o1 p( iforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
6 g5 ?; |$ v3 G! r. L+ Z6 y& d# }was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
L2 }5 W# ~* f$ aimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,4 ?, @- R5 E/ ^6 m% O0 c2 N
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
' P) I2 f* N4 Lhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment, C: x6 D9 g, ^) G
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that5 H# V$ P3 L2 K5 m' M
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
0 ?5 ?+ z/ a! \& konly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
' r# N: Q7 |1 c/ W* Q( s k) nsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government _# r0 ]. B ]9 Y! m
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move& E& A1 j3 r5 s; N
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
' d+ b4 c$ R9 ]" N0 W8 ~"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
" U( r2 K) ^) x6 E& othis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
6 I2 w5 l8 n# a3 N' j2 p. M( Mstill 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 to1 V" D2 Z' z6 d7 `. s
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make4 @- v: b9 _9 g! w6 e
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was7 @8 z, J8 B0 l% z2 M* e/ h( J
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a6 `. G3 c5 N3 @0 s
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
2 W, x5 `, e; A8 O: w7 Gthe 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
( ~! I" u/ ~8 b* Z) m5 Ximportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for6 \2 C, |1 v! ^' A& g( Z
development.
Hutongs7 j3 U# T0 F# n* X" t
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived H. ^' o7 k8 W% y
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions/ F3 z/ z* J0 r6 s( v
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
' R5 @' s) P, ]* ^have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you9 s4 E( C3 t3 W: J) K* P
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.3 c. r+ K; K( r( w/ P9 ^1 L- X
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date! ^ K1 e/ ]; v
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used" f$ }) ^; B( ?1 ], u- U
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses0 L" R+ k; c4 A% l/ r- ]
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically4 I5 n0 p' k4 ]" |
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to3 Y( F" K5 h' l& x% C- R
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
% c" W8 V. k7 Ehutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
8 o" T' o( K. Z) B5 }1 ^balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
( m* r& y9 S* Uproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be4 d2 h" U v+ c" o; g- F
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong9 o7 v4 B& ^ x3 b1 M3 _7 R& y2 q! n, v
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how+ K+ a) Q* N: I! a
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
" v, E# `, x- E+ e/ ^: [torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished/ o. g+ d4 s% f8 k$ o
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
' ^1 J2 @* e7 uNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are2 U/ ` C/ `0 }! v$ S7 ~
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
, I0 p3 S' X+ Y# p) Znon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
' i T$ e: R+ R0 h' k& U1 dof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
8 ~+ H+ V# K+ q$ J) z0 _# U3 rHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those Q9 P0 d1 ^8 y& o: k4 D1 t
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they9 b4 P6 N3 }- C; `8 P5 z. r
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some& z2 I6 O0 f7 Z6 i$ O& n4 P
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before" q8 v) h5 }' Y' }
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all( @. t& g8 {2 d8 \' k7 g
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
& J, Z7 Q9 g) d, [; C8 _0 fapartments are the way to go? No.. }8 c) P! ?8 D" s- }
6 m2 G8 o$ g' m( T) I5 V2 K: E! v
. U% [" h3 W2 g# h
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
0 m5 c c \+ ssituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
9 s3 D8 p4 i0 i9 e( e, Q$ B: `'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make2 i, l& F+ Q( D! G7 Y p. ~, A
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
8 G/ [5 [9 b7 K0 r( ]fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
" @& v9 G7 m# S9 I) ]- {resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless' @4 J$ a9 f0 A" A0 l' a
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
' `: Y4 Q. h& r, O* d/ ?0 {unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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