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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
* {; V7 \8 `! B/ O9 T' |3 farchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider& U+ m8 Q( w) c- y# M( D/ K! O, E4 W
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"4 G7 ~. W4 i0 ?
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
" R/ H+ X5 u1 }$ B5 a. ?( B! X. RAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,9 B. H8 X) N, o: |
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
& I4 ^, p* F4 \: T0 h0 w" @) y+ jManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
8 w/ J0 n$ K. hhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
) @* i" S& Z b; U5 heach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera: c/ ?2 R5 _* G
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
! j4 T# R* O1 \: K+ D2 I8 ?4 z6 Xharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
' c* O$ O$ o3 K- v) zdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and! {$ T4 S. C7 v. A# [' L
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
x, @! m/ b2 \6 p+ {was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
; }3 Q- F N \: r4 w1 U/ oimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
" q5 t& q9 Z9 G- W1 H: J6 rand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
; G' s3 u# P( O, Yhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
% _0 L2 z5 R, D1 Kof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
N {7 A* m& c: Y. \5 rno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
6 B" m8 I \2 N1 d: c8 B1 ^# B7 B' p' [only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a% u1 M7 ^7 D3 @) H3 U
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
8 n Y* A5 V" W" y) \) d' wwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
/ o0 {( Z3 n2 |* {+ sto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is* b0 S2 r# w: S# k3 B# D
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
6 \# n7 e. q7 ^# l$ Pthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
; Z' ?& z9 G! A/ l6 {% q) R& Qstill 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
1 Q: Z! a/ p3 O6 x"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make5 H% n' _; `; Y5 x
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
9 D* g- _7 z3 ja beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a7 K8 J0 p( `1 y1 t# Q5 U4 J
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
! y( q+ Z2 W9 r. wthe 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- D* z1 m; [6 W3 u3 Y
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for* @& @+ t# K2 _: v9 X S `" Y
development.
Hutongs% P# g3 x0 q/ a8 g
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
8 r1 r; n2 s s- ethere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
1 z: u( b1 g" N* a5 i: cin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not/ a, y3 k0 P W, G( p$ m
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
" X- X- p1 _- x3 {will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
# t5 `9 }1 W4 i! a, \6 ]7 iFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
! C a- F( z& [& Kto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used7 A+ s# W+ ?+ y, m* x8 [9 J }
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses' d7 n0 `% r2 ] E- i
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
$ o+ z6 F0 e7 J7 U4 g2 `unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
5 `, B1 }/ I4 A; xlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,0 q$ c* B' J+ y: u/ V6 |/ w. h5 v
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
. R/ y/ i; ^5 i& a2 ebalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
8 S& V2 s$ Q4 q, T, T- ~project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be5 U4 s/ D. g" O
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
* ~5 ]/ a, r, V. a# f0 BMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how& T8 f, {- X5 w ~: N/ T
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
& x1 I. R7 M. m- M3 N6 Gtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
. V2 b; D) x. M4 z- Z% Q5 Tmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".! S7 u6 p5 c8 h9 D
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are4 ?5 s- H4 d4 C: Z
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially8 X/ Y4 ?7 g1 \0 H y& ]9 F3 T
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image' N2 F: R, x' c, r
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these. \/ L0 @- z2 j# W3 F! o" L8 H
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
1 r/ H8 u8 S4 m. {/ qpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they3 y9 j" ~- v0 u6 c- ]5 } C! B# A
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
/ k9 o: k* |6 d4 |of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
& e+ G9 \ E# Y+ c, g"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all8 H4 R$ l5 T0 q8 v8 X
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
3 A: W: ^$ W$ Q: C1 e4 k2 ?apartments are the way to go? No.
. s2 ]- b6 y+ Y8 ]3 T0 b
6 x; }, F& O5 p9 C$ F9 U
6 T8 u8 R& C$ w& ?& y3 H% J3 z
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
% x/ t- w5 \* i3 C- [, |( v0 jsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
3 I/ _6 E% Q+ H4 R' f'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
. D& O7 _4 \3 n) [no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so0 |* }6 y: Z" c; L% H
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
& ^! M; E$ g ?# I9 ]5 ~resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless) g& o2 L1 g. N9 z" W
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
9 e$ `. D& B, ` Ounlikely to happen too. Sad!
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