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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, its8 Y9 P) A6 m% x6 I7 F
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider0 m0 g6 j7 _' K) o5 k
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
7 X0 f: K5 B6 e. o4 W7 V3 K% rcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
* b. T q0 U4 }* l7 L4 |According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
4 ~* w% b/ t' ]( ?! v3 E" h3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
# Q p3 l$ x8 M) C7 MManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within' M* ~5 W- B C, C9 e" N
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
& u+ I* J3 c0 `2 Y9 b1 aeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera5 j) C* V* n3 W6 D9 z
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is! D3 \7 m5 E9 f" z7 M0 ?- [$ D# C
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
4 p3 i# t& i; ydescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and8 \6 m L7 W0 L, _
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
5 j% g4 ^) u& U. twas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great5 N+ \' W. d8 L6 D& ^$ `
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,1 l5 b' K, W$ Z, Y9 E, \
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
( |; m0 @/ d* l9 J7 N5 b& t2 M# mhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
' l" f! Y8 m0 Q( T7 M- ?% W, uof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
* t% H% n; ?# B" gno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
) _/ d% V0 x8 |- p+ ?only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
0 |% _5 N& P/ K& Hsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
7 I. I0 N! J3 ]# {want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
2 a# N; Q) N4 zto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
: {9 d! s$ O4 I8 m3 D, Y, E"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
0 \1 s6 [ h7 x8 Z; bthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
% ?- F, Q9 D+ M: i, L4 f9 ]# Vstill 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 r% F" Y; c i) ^"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make" g1 r: v* L- }
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was' t& L' p q' y1 l* F1 _
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a8 L5 g* Z: O1 [7 {& d
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across, q2 d: }% y! [ ^0 D9 A. U
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
9 V! g H% q/ @; ]' K! fimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for$ i) x2 j( E5 X" D
development.
Hutongs
) W. w! y1 M0 Din the old days were residential area where people actually lived$ \* s9 p7 Z2 J7 g& e8 |
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions) J- h/ a7 P/ H8 D% F( _3 U c' o
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not! X, x: p h' ?4 R+ g. Z. B
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you9 y* Q1 p1 {0 k. W8 x3 P/ q
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.6 i8 k; U* Y0 s
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date5 j5 j' V2 Q7 D/ K: d3 K: x
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used3 f7 V) Z$ Y0 d0 ^1 B
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses& {9 R0 O. G% q* u" @
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
# U- c9 ]4 f) ~" ^0 j' P& Tunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
8 A0 U8 k2 g. b/ e' E6 nlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
; V& C; Z" p4 T$ s* Thutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the7 E: G6 P( c# u1 }% F3 U
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the4 v8 f( p* t. L5 T" L4 U
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be, u: C |2 {% \( w
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
3 P9 s. V/ }# B' mMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how1 E6 h" X$ p' |+ P
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
+ O8 D* R5 m( Z( R' ^& M# \* o0 Jtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
. d& Y# D# n% K" Hmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
6 M v/ s$ A3 K* yNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are9 P5 l& p% B z7 w8 `
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially& Y5 z" ?, a, R& W, E
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
0 A! I( s& U. K8 [( sof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these% L, C9 g0 x# F
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
3 d: y0 C2 k* qpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they+ r7 w( T( F! I+ x, [
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
6 |7 h" l2 u% ^0 T4 Lof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before8 u: ?; Z1 Z& H- ]9 v5 {
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all. [1 X% v( \' q) H6 X1 u( Y
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
( e5 C- V( v5 a" s, @$ n! Xapartments are the way to go? No.
; o5 M. Z7 |5 K8 P. g8 `5 L
, q9 m- b3 ^- w7 H* D) q
1 _4 i( n9 b" `9 R4 `# t) O. E) T
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the0 p4 K8 g- ?7 C* v! L: Q
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
$ u' _; Y2 \0 c4 ^5 Y'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
; J* l9 S; U1 K) Wno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
' B% x8 g7 ^" }0 }5 k2 G" gfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant; _5 m+ N5 e4 x& n
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
! b U: t- \& D2 e! z8 ABeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
5 z/ S% h0 l4 O5 }. uunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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