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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
' p. N2 w8 n/ M' ]architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider4 S, v7 c* [/ A% L; R% F) d
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"2 @0 g/ G8 f; P* f( @
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
' d, [% F/ W: U2 z( u2 N3 SAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
- F4 [2 y0 g1 J0 i3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
. ]. m; L$ f7 c0 {6 n- }- @Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within8 o! R4 h0 J7 S! m" p; ~9 G
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among) [/ C5 r1 C$ W1 Q+ ]
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera( `' N: ^& ]! D b5 c9 ?
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
* q6 Q, {" L3 X1 j+ V2 Y9 Dharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
( l2 y5 v k7 H" K2 J$ n6 U0 d' E7 |descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and" A' V3 \+ m/ Z" A+ Y/ ?; ?3 o
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I+ k# M( d6 b, h3 Y4 U5 k
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
6 X1 K1 b, g3 H( ximpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
0 G3 m- o& a, G/ n- band we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong+ I# Y; Q8 p% f2 q9 y! k
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
- z& I2 N& z7 z Z, U! aof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
, i& P/ n+ S! e3 |1 g n8 Xno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are+ X3 P# V( E6 R& I% ~% }; v
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a4 g5 c1 \* Q( @
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
, r, F& d/ H/ p8 v: Mwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move5 F- _6 w4 c. A
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is! D% N, Q9 x4 O- _. x5 U& O! d
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
. j5 ]# V* g% @9 G9 Z9 }/ ^this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are% \; p0 y9 I- w
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
3 p4 y) W* M6 Y, w7 |( F$ Q"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make: S: V. h) [$ b
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was, r8 N4 b" ^- S5 y% G& O
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
8 s( @% h: t& @1 Y5 R( R" jparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
# t) r1 f; x) U, `) x T; ~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 cultural2 t5 H$ R% s' Y$ E
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
. s, c( C6 j: \9 v& F- Z( O( Jdevelopment.
Hutongs
% x* f, W+ ]* c& b( lin the old days were residential area where people actually lived: d$ E, P9 e5 H" K& L3 t! G& _
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions6 h% j7 W$ Y X+ d
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
2 Z2 |( K* z$ l# i5 Xhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
7 U8 I, {5 y' Z+ i+ D1 H: [will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
8 f' m8 Z9 z/ g' J- GFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
& f7 s& |* c, b3 B' c* Hto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used3 Q6 J* i$ F5 k
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses, X4 g" d$ p: c4 g( ` Z5 d; g
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically4 s9 @6 j! q5 C4 J/ d
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to: Z! k. c& B* [7 S; g
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,1 Z7 T0 w: i! M+ k+ w
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
6 q5 ]0 A1 T# xbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the9 q+ M. C! A' n& G
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
4 g( M9 U7 I$ erenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
C$ p3 }" w! n* A8 U$ ^% DMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
# U3 y6 Z4 l3 l5 bpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be- C8 {) q7 w' r7 m, k9 e
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished+ Z, Z4 T: [! ]3 `% V4 {: v- X
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".! i' O) m- l- [$ d
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
) G2 H! A/ \' L. F! q% d/ o3 m% \aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
, e, _6 o+ H0 \/ Dnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
$ f* n0 r! \! d1 z% q. Xof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
; d9 K+ [% ~3 s, \" gHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those* ^- V! n1 U& r
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they0 u" b+ @. ]1 h* b8 r
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
" N" g8 Y7 R( t. j( }of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
' L6 f% r, B# C2 I"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
) P5 N, j4 S9 {$ U5 v5 _4 qpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
; f# `6 r' }. f4 B$ Oapartments are the way to go? No.! o% e6 f8 `0 u7 L4 y2 H: t
5 @ @, o1 e/ R3 s
! q8 o4 m% c3 F+ ^% G6 A0 d/ N J7 s
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
8 {% f. t& @7 X+ Fsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
( J! o( `$ V9 D7 s& j5 A'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
0 q m u; F7 d( P t3 L/ Tno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so' f( a9 K9 H& U
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant3 _4 X7 o+ x3 h- R. P" t! c
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless9 H O$ V/ D/ S4 h9 c. }
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
. K$ m) `( t; p6 a2 V0 Hunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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