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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
) o3 H7 F P( O: Harchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider3 D- [6 s! r5 A& k
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
4 j' C: g* F7 ?# b" zcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.* v5 O7 x, X4 j0 f9 O- r" F
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
5 R. r3 }9 [: }3 }3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of$ g& ]2 Z, E6 i7 B, ]& G' ~/ D
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within5 _ {1 ]# u- \) T" R" r! N
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
{/ s* ]) z! teach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera* b; M6 B; g" G1 [- a
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
5 k- a# J* O" x$ rharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
% U/ [. u+ y9 r# }1 w1 q5 [descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
. I5 l9 c( D8 \/ Gforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I$ T7 b& W* R; V0 W: \- `1 P, h, e
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
" B! S/ }' V9 W% Q1 oimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
8 ~2 |4 D; c* M* cand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong' T9 o( I5 J2 ~: c
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
" A( u4 e0 R \3 |of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that! S9 F* q, c# C$ d
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are6 u5 t0 i" c% d$ y( ?# f3 x
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a; p# {5 X7 f, N) b& e
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
+ B% I+ J" l" }: `want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
2 X9 w# q6 \: o* U! V5 yto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is5 s% u7 n4 P- ^! y# I- r
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,7 P4 _+ C$ U- z- M; k8 Q3 }
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
, \, N$ _, ^$ {3 Q0 zstill 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( E2 E& Z Q+ J- b
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
) u/ m8 m% h( d- Y; l0 J1 R d6 {money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
+ ~4 h6 d. p0 a! }. N+ f v. ma beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a; y9 Q5 h% n, I. U' k" m( Z* x) ]; l
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across- X# u V7 ]) B8 i3 `" |. \* c
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
+ m" G* D& w* Zimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
! r; k" z y" \development.
Hutongs
6 a. t! e _- }" J7 p uin the old days were residential area where people actually lived/ y; x/ r" Y# y: I5 c3 T$ ]
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
3 P6 O0 R9 h& Z0 q: L. _in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not9 e: a* v, ~' V% Q3 k; i) X: F
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you2 b# h1 ]( A6 d. n8 _
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
3 c( }- h! A! g: B) s. D7 ^1 jFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date6 h0 B) l; U# g" \! v1 h
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
. s0 _$ v- i' M/ e* @# ]) xto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses' @. h1 u; A6 ^
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
4 E( @: Z5 V& P8 _unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
o/ N1 I2 o3 L/ Ilive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose," V, _! P1 [6 u2 o
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
7 o# u+ F+ k/ l$ i+ wbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
* w3 N+ r8 E: l1 fproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be0 ?. O. b u: O0 ~, d- f( o
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
- B7 W d$ r' L0 ?/ vMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
9 Q" g$ v! _2 [% y, ~3 rpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
* H. p/ B! G4 M! R7 j+ Z' gtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
. x4 `% d- Q* ` Y* H8 T" t0 \memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
8 F! d' J0 P9 K' @; \1 L1 y3 {- `Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are% t5 N# ~$ h1 D$ f1 B' P
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
9 F# b' j" F& Z. x5 @* dnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
# O+ ^1 A" C3 ~7 Kof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
+ Z! n2 C& i) _% Q- ?Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
& t3 z& v" A! W# }9 Epeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they( b: y" m+ g- o( @1 H
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
, V: t5 {$ |( [* V+ b- q$ Lof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
r% j( a6 H( ^* O( w"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all. M, a: [/ t _6 t/ u: ?+ E
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
: ]* f, ^' @# Y. Oapartments are the way to go? No.& ]! v. D( f& y* r! M$ l
" j5 u; Z1 g+ {6 ]2 M V3 | : F8 s0 u. ^0 r U8 N- j! V
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
! Q i( M4 ]" Z! j1 h5 ^situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
2 F$ m2 c) k( m7 m'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make& f8 G9 ?9 [ v4 }& U! @
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
+ }0 w8 c5 z C) w# \& Rfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant f% b" ?, Q- `/ } @. F
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless: T, V4 l. q3 I& g3 W3 B
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is: w" J$ {. V4 Z7 P, b9 {) D
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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