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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
9 n- f6 f4 W$ E2 f- H( _architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider$ U" {3 i0 ]' f i* F* s
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian", v8 G' E* Y# `$ |' x& \1 K+ O
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
; z+ }% v" g7 |% e0 QAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
& G0 l, T3 w" f* a3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
/ I5 Q! `* _* T$ _5 LManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within% r. g( g* F0 h& p a
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among ^3 U% {, W" B1 e( a
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
8 b3 v1 ?$ i# I3 y) s* T% Band Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
* g2 [2 @6 S; |& x" ~5 Charmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are; Y0 }% h6 M0 p" r Y9 W p
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and; W- g: ^3 b( H6 b
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I3 Y0 A+ u: _5 v' B
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
: x/ Q. F4 Z1 d- z0 u6 ~impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
0 }, b0 |2 F7 j; d1 B" l1 E+ l( e2 Iand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
: X2 q" }4 D2 |/ d% }1 Dhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment9 T' o% W, P* {5 Q) {2 T9 F
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
+ [0 a2 q) ]( w' vno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
6 p8 E; I. l. I) yonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a0 O: x0 M0 B/ i' T+ m! p5 b5 q9 R
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government! h U' R# G2 M2 t* @+ D
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
! ]+ e/ r+ ]* Eto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is' T2 E- m" S2 Y0 [: s# k* B
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
2 B* z/ M+ ?1 kthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
$ u/ ^; a3 o" lstill 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
6 |( ^9 P9 y# G$ i"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
: r( H3 B) I' gmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was5 K/ ~! `8 X! h* h1 R# S
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
$ ?8 t3 K8 s- i$ O* eparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
+ Y" B1 N( h {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
( O, g9 Q: B/ D8 n* f2 Uimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for1 f# _/ k: [* ?. a/ h8 x I
development.
Hutongs1 r4 t- @) k9 m* s
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived( R- t& L+ ?1 Y" W* X
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions8 u- z0 Y, L' ~+ X
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
5 W# r t% `+ @6 Ghave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
2 o4 |$ f7 ?$ [! }7 n' `& Ywill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
1 D+ I3 q$ R3 t( U* h# AFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
q% w% d1 f8 V8 p( R( U- zto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used* J P) ~& }# C6 ]! @0 T2 A- R* L
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses$ i o2 d& _- W p, X9 }$ K
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
- G8 ~" ?4 Z5 gunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to* K8 M0 t( g" W. E" {2 b
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
1 J3 a# A, p8 M9 Qhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
. `4 C( e* w' t7 c: I: bbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
. n( c3 B( i N% Q0 i& {project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
; r+ V4 w j& O6 `! p/ B0 Orenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong# W. y! Q, R) Y4 o
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
6 w9 O+ p: r3 V, l5 I3 K% opeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be# p8 C8 J1 J& z& V. G2 i# I" Y' |
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished8 A; q( J2 L# Q! R' D* `
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".: V& H1 l+ L. u1 O! t
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
Q$ y- c* w1 {' Ialigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
! X0 N6 B6 Y5 G% m/ A& nnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image, y& R1 V" G1 U+ N
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
- R; R/ s7 e5 e* k+ XHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
9 S& x! M' v: m6 f I0 |! |people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they; D4 ?% ?9 ]6 F9 c- \. ~* Z& @
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
% |+ E O% I0 b0 o. Gof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before5 r; ~5 K& v8 q# c
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all: i. r2 Z- n7 O
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
f5 S2 R- X2 Y4 Y1 n4 }1 N3 tapartments are the way to go? No.
! Y3 p) c' U; E6 ?* e3 l + T$ f& A6 q8 o0 b& R) H! J
9 f' b* H: \' c* S3 n d4 F" _
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the7 X5 p' S% M; @4 v
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
0 D+ k- [! R) i/ Z! `'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make" M1 l" S7 j$ Y }! C3 b
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
, ]* W' L) @& K* V3 x0 u# Cfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
! ^) _. w, f# H3 N1 k/ Vresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless" }2 Q5 Y! q& ~- Y9 o
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is$ N& J( y, y7 t! ^0 C$ l. f6 T
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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