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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
! A3 B7 A6 ]% m3 y4 Parchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
6 l1 W0 J/ A. w0 {% JBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"# D2 q$ G7 @' B5 X( P8 Q+ N
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
9 u. a$ t" ~7 ~ X# u0 A. pAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,7 W, u4 p: u# T8 |
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of! B/ P. S% _8 t5 ?
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within L, @/ q8 y+ E N* C, U* U
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
/ u2 _! ?, f2 q, e& O; peach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera+ b# z! a0 F+ E( T- d4 J2 c
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is T4 z; T7 C3 Z! z5 |2 _* ?9 W- M
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
% h$ w. G2 j6 |. L" gdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and A5 ^* `( c( i' V' F; B/ d1 c
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
- b2 p4 j( ?6 d Hwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
6 H0 Y3 {4 }0 T$ q7 c& {3 o/ x- fimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,+ D3 }& V$ Q7 F/ W4 V
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
& l* E" f+ w% P! b3 bhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
4 X! x; ?; y" C( h5 v2 Fof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
7 i2 O- S* l3 P3 K$ Ino hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
9 I- g- m5 u9 v5 Ponly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a* R" E; z, _2 J! Y: ^( R8 s
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
9 \* W; ^' x) u$ gwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
$ s/ x8 b- `$ @: {* P, I" }to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is/ S! A' N/ J) x. } h( z, ?5 f$ M
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,- F) n: Q/ W2 x. F1 m9 p: ]( \) K
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
) p9 M' y- f% pstill 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 c6 _) }1 t9 b
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make/ ~/ D: ^" c" h1 R0 y
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was( n P, W: C1 s/ c( V
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a- x. x' |; ?4 r M: y: @* {
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
9 h8 |/ [# u, }' r! U! _; l6 xthe 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
& @: ^9 F# ~% \. T3 l, F3 |importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for5 M9 C! x3 O" X3 X! z7 X# ?
development.
Hutongs
! T. U; G+ z8 _( |8 Yin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
; e8 G$ L* o* d3 e+ B" wthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
7 ]: G7 i8 a- a/ f( Qin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not# d& {9 @( H: R9 \
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
, r: s4 {# G) i! g* Bwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.+ F- b2 N1 A3 Y1 r
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date) Y# i& N( U2 j. I+ F9 O2 `6 p& ~
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
+ N8 @6 ]6 O( p6 w2 R% |" Pto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
) L' |8 _' S! Q; jsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
6 c: h$ l- |- E1 g# nunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to0 ^. v" e7 r/ [+ A. @+ m% L
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
- }- P _) w. Yhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the5 ]3 q, }7 `- a, e
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the% @4 C8 s& `6 M1 U& \
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
3 H1 }- X- \% E9 o$ X+ Z) `( Prenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
3 o$ ?4 V8 X$ U2 T. r7 \Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how3 I( l5 m0 j2 ^' w3 {" X
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
8 Y! R* O( k0 g+ u3 [! ?) E" a3 storn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
9 H( r z5 W. m, r* F: Tmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
3 w' R" N! ]0 @2 K0 ^+ ENothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
9 k. Y% e9 F: Kaligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially: j$ {7 j9 k6 ~' P) d8 }
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
) v, ~9 f% A2 f% Bof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these+ w- H* l- j1 v* W
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those+ _5 {* m9 p: [" O0 ~5 n
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
; F: k2 w$ p; r/ A# m+ smay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
& G8 P! d/ M$ E5 eof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
6 e* G8 k7 ?9 o0 v+ X" Y, S"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
6 k; s$ P1 Y6 w8 X1 ?4 X! O- p9 xpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
( m' b; q7 C" x* {5 Aapartments are the way to go? No.4 w4 r( N9 i/ ?2 t/ \
+ X' \: \4 x5 U6 o
) {7 \' x, b+ a o. l6 D2 ]8 L
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the. Y6 O; z, a5 u
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this8 d5 D# n$ e) Y
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make9 l' P9 T9 v! C* r7 F) u" F4 Q/ [
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so6 p* r9 T8 l$ o) g$ U S0 D
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant: S- ~9 @; d; Q4 z* S. q# Q* s6 \
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
2 J. P3 ~, |, Q% JBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
4 W% M. E: M3 bunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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