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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
! u( _8 x8 \8 g: h& Farchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider# d! y i, G. ]0 W
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"1 e+ ?( o3 o2 i5 J/ \ ~- X' S
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.! U4 f: Z" `$ @9 C \7 A
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,9 a# e# \* M" r Y3 Z
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
) z6 |/ b& v; ^ w, } I2 _Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
% u: [2 M+ H3 ?% yhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among* [& _ i6 f0 b4 _4 e; u0 b. F
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
% R: X) u4 s4 }0 |* I2 Yand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is* ?$ `% p _7 {. `( {
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are S( U5 o1 R9 n2 b0 L
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
2 U9 J8 U, O H3 r5 N+ J: O: Cforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I6 E: L' X, d; M5 g3 J
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
3 M/ c4 m! M8 C0 R2 t% [- u4 D- ~impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
8 g$ @; d( g2 aand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
0 d; ^) D/ V9 j9 n2 Y, q/ thas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
4 O! X1 m% f% P8 {; t6 _of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
0 @1 r% ^+ Y- F, E P2 Tno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
# L! g% q3 o) t* X' wonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
$ \9 x D! O2 i0 q) ~: F& t! w/ q' dsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government7 {3 N) j! q6 [9 P/ i i8 Y7 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( X$ @; |! _* M; n% E
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is b9 T: J) J3 }, F
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,: n4 }0 r& _3 U$ g/ T" V
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are* A6 q- W/ f6 k1 n! ^8 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& k* a+ o# J5 j9 h9 a: T
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make) y r3 \/ z: q) T# {, K" F
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
1 [9 {( Y& o0 O; z2 |7 ?a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
3 @. H; T8 y/ x \* }! ~parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
( e6 D0 L4 E) h( g2 ]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
& k) c% C, W# yimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
3 d# g j, B8 H( _ y; e. g; Kdevelopment.
Hutongs1 T1 V+ [% y) E& X4 H( F* V
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
1 k5 B6 D' o( v1 lthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions3 J, k r P" U
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not9 v9 Z5 `6 ^7 b
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
9 C. a4 ^) K: g+ x3 L! H" wwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
5 T L6 A3 n" J% w! PFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date1 H! h) g1 W' Y" @# ^" Q
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used, Z2 R4 D% T4 A6 L0 S8 r# a
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses2 l: ~0 }! y8 d) c b$ h, _
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
; J9 _2 r4 J, b& \2 S2 E6 Iunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to/ b, N, M' I- c/ a7 i0 G9 J$ c3 ~
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,; h0 c0 E) H) @6 Y
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
4 M" P8 p) h9 ^; S& Hbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the* s. N" C% I8 E$ j+ B
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be$ j6 m1 L C: L9 z
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
9 S! ^ s1 s- t. h% J2 gMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
: c+ C5 H. D m5 J5 w5 Wpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
5 L' g( U0 P6 h# r7 gtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
% P; ]- t& F' I6 kmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
9 R! I3 l( H7 V. ]+ X$ K* q% I1 E4 mNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
6 \$ O5 f% @7 Q$ E, ealigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
" Z- M1 ]; t* A# Cnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image/ s; @: F0 Q" r: g1 p3 b1 R$ e
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these* { `8 u4 u. E* D- a# A
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those( Q5 B* N3 |+ Y% S
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
9 P, P' J8 z) Y3 y% e" Q( w2 C# emay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
+ u b- S1 Z8 i9 B1 yof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before# w5 Y! u1 Y' @
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all6 }' ^3 d) Y. z5 K, e" i3 C' b5 \5 x
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
% Z9 `. V+ X/ A8 ^9 N' W8 @2 yapartments are the way to go? No.
; E) s, \7 p9 b8 n
( T6 q5 s% {! }
; v& r! d1 g0 [2 p
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the" u2 L0 }( ~% G+ n6 r
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
+ j$ d7 |8 g: w5 d. \5 k'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make# i+ @7 S3 \ G; a
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so2 ~' L: D h9 b3 J' r+ j$ o; ~
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
I/ |3 L8 |! E% ]1 Eresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless1 j1 h4 |/ Y7 ?* I
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
7 _6 c! G3 W- l+ Eunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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