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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
: x; p# _) f4 j! N$ |2 ~: R/ [7 I5 Zarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
- _$ h- x8 t* Q! o' iBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"1 N! n$ s9 K$ X2 I5 ]
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
, Z* R( T; r7 a$ \9 A- VAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
7 A& i5 q" u3 y+ S: J3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of- }8 ?. I4 S5 \. ^$ d
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
# i& s2 w1 B9 x; ^& thutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
8 w; }: A; F1 G7 j) \- G1 N+ veach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera6 z i$ q* ]( [. i
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
, v0 q* d6 S* u) Wharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
% [/ W5 [1 r4 A' I8 c+ m- C# ~descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and; ^" p, M g" }# `/ y+ ]" @
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
3 P, y3 `' y+ C6 c3 o* x. lwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
3 a; e% r" N6 uimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,1 j, A+ r8 \0 E
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
1 f+ e& l* ]$ |has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment; c# k. y3 a' L% U5 M7 m& p( n9 k8 C
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that$ P; P3 X/ N: b7 z& ~ k4 k
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are9 y+ Z5 c( r% ^
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a. W# x0 x7 B7 r: l$ p$ H
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
& o9 @3 P( i- w( awant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move* o; h9 l) Q' R& P/ h+ |
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is, r" S/ z# b# j% L
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
]; Q8 b- N6 Qthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
, h% B( X$ T4 [* C9 ~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
* Q% O5 ]* [/ f% k"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make( G6 G' Z. w1 \7 x. ~( y1 A
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was" m# `, {5 Q! q0 }$ x0 Z: S
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a# |7 T2 S. d$ \9 T; @' d' m
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across( T. S( @/ E& J' M$ e# Z
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
. o: a7 G0 t; h* T; O+ e0 q9 vimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for% e6 \" ~/ u6 S$ o# T6 v i$ g
development.
Hutongs0 q M. I+ @+ d( {: P
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived O- m+ R/ u+ |
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions% S' n* _. n+ T Q, u
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
) r a! }0 y G v, ohave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you; v, u1 e8 T2 ?( ?
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
' m/ i' L$ t" pFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date( J- N' O, {9 V" Z7 J% G8 }
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used7 [4 i6 a# G2 |- @4 D7 B+ }
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
. B3 e+ ]$ R. f6 R" e, O) s9 }# b, [support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
2 K/ `3 \3 I' zunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
* p4 O) X: P! V S9 C, f- dlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,1 K& @6 r0 x$ h7 C5 t+ t" a1 ]
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the! s1 Z1 I( B9 Z9 B9 @- G
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
4 |' }8 ]7 ^: Oproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
- h4 \: E# r* o# P9 Grenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong2 s: }+ }; r, h' s6 O6 S0 o/ K
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how9 f% _- E8 B. n$ x7 o7 D z
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be7 X: F6 }+ n4 k
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished4 B" u, E7 g- ^4 r% q
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
) t( ~- c9 P9 E7 {6 fNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
! Q' e! q7 }- L2 x3 w2 Ualigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
% Y2 H4 s4 O5 H2 f4 xnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
: z) F- I- k) c+ ?7 D" Mof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
7 d; R4 y; }3 G, pHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
- s; l" L& X* H' Q( n8 bpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
# L( j3 Z; |. K" lmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
8 i/ [# I2 q: Z( y/ ?6 lof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
2 |+ n( G0 _* Q"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
6 R v" v- j! lpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise2 v' J V0 ]# q
apartments are the way to go? No.
8 M4 P/ G$ |5 M8 O
- a) [1 V3 n# `: C; {5 c1 `6 s
. I |: ?! P! r& \% a" x" ?) c1 }
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the& `3 S- q' q3 i
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
3 ?4 M8 o/ i1 n, M8 R e'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make5 N; E+ V4 [! L5 k
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so" {/ j& ]; s; p) q _ g g
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
+ y! K8 `* w) r; h+ {; {. uresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
/ t, S* U5 t7 P* KBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
% B' `% M& T$ P/ x/ ounlikely to happen too. Sad!
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