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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, its2 T( F% d4 L' o( n
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider& H) o/ b! u, F2 T
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
6 C8 Z g: e( ^5 Ocity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.1 S: _2 H. k6 x4 I8 w
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,. K2 C4 q+ R8 J! w# z; w1 Y
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
+ L/ [7 x' Q3 u |Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
, i8 b* h( Y( @7 }hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among# O8 h( u# P% X" p' O c
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera N! X" ?4 q( g* q
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
% \. c+ j) s% ~$ ?. N9 sharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are8 e4 l1 F; @* A: a
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and4 t$ E: i/ e# N( v/ R( ?
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I, Z6 n) x h+ M( u7 D- j
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
" [$ Z& M l0 e7 F, m( pimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
0 i0 y. j5 A& H2 x/ Aand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
7 h3 j; q/ C6 _% Y7 chas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
( {7 A& p8 d1 C" E, U) Nof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that- Y3 j) z" B* }' j1 ]* u0 t
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are7 o2 V4 }( I* d( I7 U; `* I
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a* v/ K! Q4 {( Y- V
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
) @ I# y& k: C9 N- v' lwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move, U+ {( | _' V3 I4 l
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
1 {! Q5 c, J i. x2 A, |"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,7 N) m% h( @# x: S& N
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
% q0 n- y8 k( `8 F5 Astill 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 to4 `5 E9 v; i6 W, w* u
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
/ {: l# Z' m- c imoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was1 Z) z7 J( {% ^' I
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
' O# `; s7 r0 H& t$ `1 Sparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across% {, \) V$ G( {8 P. z+ q8 J
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
5 h- ^3 N+ {1 x3 d {! Wimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
) I* D ^, N0 i; }( X5 ^development.
Hutongs
0 |! i- f6 p! E7 a- Z+ ^in the old days were residential area where people actually lived# R9 V% P ^1 I& \7 }% [
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
9 P, I V7 }) [; @in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not! s8 }& p- Q& a! S& V& `
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you- o' e. @2 b- U3 }9 S% {
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
+ U; ^' r) I* t) ^% b1 P0 |Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
1 N: g3 b- ^' j5 h. V. c# @to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
+ T3 n3 {/ o" _2 {1 e) vto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
; S$ z: o- C& m3 u- q$ O% Psupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
# B6 F8 R* c* Z- G5 Q0 \6 f# Ounfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
F) I7 x* {& g# R! o- f9 t/ ylive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,! Z* C0 L) \& v n
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
) Q+ B0 R& r, K! Z" t6 x" Wbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the* D8 N, N0 n" H+ P! D* n: }0 ~
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be# {& S3 G+ r( J1 x8 h" ]
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
5 a& D) b+ | P( F mMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
2 }! k- g( I% _ C; E, g& ipeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be+ d' K' Y( O+ L$ v7 K2 v
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
8 T* S" U& P/ c1 J% Ememories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
+ x: T2 G; _+ |4 R9 f, tNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
+ L" V0 v. ~" v) c2 Caligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially" M5 c/ r. V. V& w4 n% J
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image; N2 x9 Y2 B6 o
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these' S3 z% @3 t+ E7 u, u
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those" p y7 T- o- z( D
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
6 p6 |! L( P) ~# ~3 P7 }may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some- C: M0 t/ h; a8 }7 r! S6 H- h
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
( n9 r* w% K% K) m5 m- Y. M7 i7 ?! \"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all. \1 V8 x3 o% f
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
7 V/ u( ?0 Q+ E2 C4 Y" Z8 | Uapartments are the way to go? No.
' S) r1 f- N$ [% ?: o$ {+ l 0 J7 j! t" K! G* v' a6 n
. P6 P: k7 T3 v
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
7 c) v% y$ i) b( nsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
+ K9 X0 b1 ?; h: M0 q3 b4 X'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make. C- A7 z6 h6 ]4 C2 c/ |
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so: T. ^! T; J, I/ [- D
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant9 k' B3 @! S: q- D9 f% O' Q
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless" U! S' o8 Z2 e1 v: K
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
2 h+ M1 T4 E6 b( Hunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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