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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
9 i$ D( Q3 a3 c/ V& farchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider& }9 g% _4 y. o ~# v$ r
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian". K0 h. F* ~( C& G3 t6 B
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
+ |! f; m1 f/ \8 QAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
) L0 j5 l) _ E9 U. L/ w# W5 W' w1 f3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of8 ~# a7 s% L* K% F7 J
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
# e6 g, i2 \% @, s8 g- ahutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among! G C$ B" B; E7 Y
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
/ Z% G. l6 C% F4 U* K, gand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is% K6 K8 M- r% B5 X
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
3 R# Y. q1 U9 B4 Z3 K4 U4 }descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and* f1 O; p" @/ `. v Z3 W
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
5 n7 q1 C" f/ }5 vwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great$ O% G/ f& L5 u. i
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,# x* F" ^" p. q# ?* n
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
( _0 e9 f& O3 a0 o) z5 S1 ?has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment& Q" o- B) j9 `' p
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
7 L8 c& H m# N. {" g0 n/ ono hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are( m6 b) f+ j0 d1 S9 j; f
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a. ?) u( ^7 ]$ J& L! L, g8 l) A
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
9 `0 E$ i7 `0 V) m# awant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move9 c( l8 d8 w. ?( s& n5 ^* t; B
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
! @% a* L( y/ E+ y- p$ _"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
4 H% k9 j8 L) H# [. nthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are$ q) E1 H$ q1 i; e
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/ {, N3 E3 x+ a4 G/ R Z# Y
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
/ F0 N: D1 V. \6 [9 a( L6 Umoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
# g9 r h% K! K1 u0 La beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a' p, W% J3 O- F; d( \8 w
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
/ j/ X' V8 c) R [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 cultural6 F( W% C/ Y& W/ C1 P3 P
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
- A+ j% q& q5 q9 Y& Sdevelopment.
Hutongs Q) b: Q. C L! e, T* |
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived6 n7 X/ U$ H3 R, J! Q5 D2 B$ i
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions4 p4 n/ g* {, l4 w9 f) i t: v
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not' C. O/ v- x2 n& b0 w! h
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you: \& L2 e! H1 a0 m+ R/ K
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
j5 ^7 b! d; \1 mFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
, C$ {3 x' Z/ cto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used/ [& C/ w0 B3 ]5 F4 q2 M& `: J
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses) B% F5 }) V( i+ G+ R
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
; s d6 J6 K+ y6 junfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to+ m' A" a2 }$ h0 c9 ^7 G
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
1 o0 r. B( f! _7 b8 G1 }- K- d/ thutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
' r: A- Q8 h) m$ U3 W3 I- ubalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the: X3 |) P: i; V' K
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
' y! ?4 F9 q* h# erenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
* \$ \: n1 _0 S& n% r" ZMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
- l1 F! s7 t6 E0 q8 w0 |people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be5 ]: E! D, F3 P5 H! E0 C _; Y
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
+ [" a' E1 m2 V% Kmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
+ T) }: ~% ?8 k% O; J6 \Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
D8 G3 ?5 O0 y. haligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
5 n+ a; `+ d% o# Bnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
. _0 L) }8 H1 m5 @: }of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these) V& t3 N/ L3 h8 Z9 m
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those- ~7 U5 x, H9 C* @, c( a
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they! l" u3 R8 Q, Q* O& K" i& B
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
& L: Q/ n" g" S+ @! Y; _: ~4 [! pof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before; v7 q' c: p& A# V7 v8 W6 u; O
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
& M/ {6 O, e' }2 c$ W$ Gpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise3 A2 N+ {* T$ m) \2 Z6 f8 P
apartments are the way to go? No.
4 L" y4 A- w e; w7 e
3 r4 k8 ~' I. g5 U1 ?6 k* c
. y9 ^" t' B, x6 E. R3 q
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
, ^: } ^" ~* |+ p1 ^situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
& ~3 d/ l6 ?! E7 k( Y/ q6 m( Y'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
4 s- v% d( u* g8 S) Wno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so4 ?& E+ G5 V0 ^2 m' C
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant! t$ O1 @% o/ }8 M6 e. s
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
& v3 _$ d3 U! r8 ~8 pBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
$ H. }2 y- S5 Vunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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