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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
' C9 | h" U# warchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
% C" O* t* x# z8 M+ dBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
1 e( z/ c# ^% U l' ]city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.8 D9 U1 L# I2 N2 @( z% g9 Q, M8 Z
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
\7 x" f) I4 |% v g3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of# l) r+ a+ g- K2 C a
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
. L6 }3 y( S( y/ s4 Ahutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among6 V! a9 E, E: |( m
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
. ?8 r! b9 B8 z5 cand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is% q) d, M! C( j
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are$ q. V* ~7 H: P+ I* d
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and! s$ u* ]$ S+ p7 P6 X. t' H
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
% p! q# M: m9 ]7 L2 U. R Bwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
' R! K! ?' b9 ^' H& y+ [8 ?& O' dimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished, j s# ^, u% }5 u, o
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
4 w2 ]1 G' [5 q5 Fhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment6 Z8 l, N8 [8 X6 X( t
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
" \6 ~: y, }4 j C: O1 x$ Yno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are# x$ f! i; l7 Q4 e% @0 U2 L. a
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
! f+ L8 D5 e& ^sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government' K+ ^7 f2 T2 A# |
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move1 B; W: m( s, |, @% f8 D0 Y
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is6 S" W4 A3 J X7 z, U7 D( L
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,5 f+ Y }( X8 }! E: a0 u/ Z
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are/ K9 C- t: W# v3 k
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
- j8 [6 N# p# a9 E$ S5 s0 _"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make* s; I" \- I) P/ _& x
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
$ h/ C( a& `; }. M. c9 K! za beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a# u3 u5 b4 `/ h) B
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across6 ^5 H. m3 u' c% m; Y
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. I7 _% Z. Y# B+ T9 w
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
7 C" N. Y3 K) zdevelopment.
Hutongs' [1 v# U2 H% l0 n6 `
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived$ w" [$ [" A3 _# {* C( j" j
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
6 J8 l: n4 U7 gin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not% _7 J! Z, K0 G% H- j( Z% x1 n
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
/ R. E H. J9 T! ewill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
o$ o7 g6 N( h9 s! T. HFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
1 @/ ~4 c* i$ `' x" w# P3 y4 kto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
8 i* R, U0 R5 \8 n4 G \' Lto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses7 L0 c: D2 v4 a. F* K4 Z
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
: G' @& x @* ?7 A9 Ounfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
. G! Q. l& F1 s/ M2 i, G" n0 Alive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
9 V6 c) M! m4 e8 }; t. c$ lhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the% A L8 o$ I4 Q
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the9 [) O/ C0 Z T2 b
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
+ P9 r) P7 R v" {2 O7 o8 r9 @1 Lrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
. B) n; R! C" ]+ jMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
% y+ J* k2 p7 D6 c4 g, @6 |5 bpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
3 f3 p4 C3 i% `) T* ktorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
3 d9 |1 n8 x8 ^$ ?memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". B# b2 R1 }0 g! f% t1 t1 C
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
: H+ ~8 y2 R( oaligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially7 D9 w; U+ W8 i- q) S( L5 D; E
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
0 d2 u- B9 s8 k/ U* v6 t: |of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these1 W' q9 \# @8 r" P
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
! `& v) _' h: U$ C0 T3 {, s0 Ypeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they# D6 g! \% I; j6 ?* v# R; S. z' m
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
( p& F# ~+ B! T9 Tof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before& v! l- a: P0 g* M" g5 J
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
# q" F) h# m1 X) o9 ]" {# i: ?people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
" _: ~% j0 u. H C, Wapartments are the way to go? No.1 ~" D4 Z D+ u9 `' s5 c
" B! d i- B: K; T0 G, g; L
- N% C" \: Q( f
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the( R" ]* [4 H* `
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this* k* W7 B4 P" b6 \( |
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
. P! V# C( }5 V( @1 @1 w3 [no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so8 L# L2 Z0 [8 m* O% F8 q
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
' g1 {+ _/ C( m& R0 i+ @resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless5 p4 c, u' B1 O, Q/ l' q4 Q. m
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
( R& f n9 c) q; e9 uunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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