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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
3 F" s$ {+ `& [5 m) parchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
/ Y! @! E+ W" v& k1 W( iBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian", \( R6 h. `; N7 S
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
% @# k: `6 B% _ ^1 WAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,( u9 E% j, o Q) q; ~. S$ `
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
7 g. k; a& M7 O& j, zManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
- r5 `1 O# h! o/ V) `hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
& y# }' `9 m/ V, I. b. Yeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera% }$ B( ` h8 V5 |' ^; K
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
% R4 @! u* Z3 { B1 X5 bharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
# Y3 t3 r. w( l4 w" j& N9 Bdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and8 N1 R: }0 o L
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I; ]+ ]3 z5 E8 p7 W1 h
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
0 ^0 _# Q- q$ m: d& l# zimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,/ O9 H2 y9 E6 D& g9 W1 t# t
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong2 a$ x. |% {+ Z) Q( ]; l
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
3 f0 \- }) L0 |- O% ^of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
- E6 U+ r; c Q- b [no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
2 ?- K4 m+ Q- R3 qonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
# U' a+ j& _2 I: L: t, h4 w( e Hsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
1 N1 r' v3 ]+ g; P' |9 ~1 I) T9 z& ewant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move8 H( ^5 R: v$ e! h
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is/ l5 y+ ^3 S& P
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
n6 C( [4 e/ e1 G9 Nthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
2 M$ u" f3 l) {8 mstill 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
- O7 f$ c! ], m1 ^' h$ W1 f* b"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
6 j: h: y' f1 J' Wmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
7 F' q' D: w$ R- ^a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a. E( z3 x) N4 T3 C1 }2 l
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
" c! a' a6 T7 {8 j3 h d3 w7 ?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
0 i/ [; H+ x% ~- S1 s1 o1 Limportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for0 H- Z( x4 I P" Y- K& O) q3 b
development.
Hutongs
8 ^8 V7 U# J* g" u9 }# _in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
# S6 H* i0 o+ A1 }! h" q$ sthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions! W7 E N2 J$ t3 i
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not" T, P# x( S* V# \
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you- H8 {- x; [, }: \
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
+ N6 d) C# U& e7 b( N# Y+ VFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
' w" Y& ^" f% R; U8 b8 N0 a" bto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used% R& ?/ o, s% p; x" n" y3 l
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
, L$ I- l9 k) g# S/ V. asupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
+ B+ _: n$ }& | ]) V, X" W Bunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
5 Y$ A& @4 I4 X' S" Tlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
* K# {0 d1 ]* r8 shutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
$ Z$ M1 y2 J& wbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
; [7 O! ^+ T% [. w+ I/ sproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be2 X1 t' `! K H& w1 \3 B9 }
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong3 Y1 G+ g3 t/ Z+ {% X% S2 B0 @5 `
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
6 V! a s- b% d7 B# k+ p6 F$ wpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be) B3 v( j% j8 _: l2 T
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
4 C) A$ h j5 Y! c% gmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".. B7 g! _: r% J7 K h, k
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are1 f2 V/ N: n0 e
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially/ A( l' C l- h% j" l9 o
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
- J) M- \& M1 y1 p0 C6 wof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
, A# z1 [" p2 t8 YHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
! M1 C' D l. }3 z: w3 l5 Epeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they3 U* m7 z( v1 Z6 i7 m! a0 l
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
! D \. {. ~: M" |, y3 [- Nof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
4 a) S* E: g9 O- z) G3 S& L"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all7 j; W& q) C' L) Q% P0 {7 Z& d
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise* B' a" p2 s( u; @& O
apartments are the way to go? No.0 c- A& r/ |$ ?4 [; ~% X. M( P
1 j! {; u* i$ g% L
, \: H3 c4 i* C# ~# ^/ l$ b4 R# ^
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the# g; Z& a, ~7 I$ {. H# f3 j
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this, o! \: O6 N! f
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make Z# N9 M1 O) Z* X0 t6 p
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so" |1 Q& R6 P! K2 \
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant; ~# C) J' X2 A+ z) b/ E
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless0 j ^) R* p) S+ k
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is3 {! A$ ? l, I. p% p
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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