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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
$ \% x% @1 {2 C4 Z0 F# darchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
4 l. H1 D( o1 s+ |# h" g" G5 ~Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
# p; `* F/ s+ Y* T- gcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.+ a0 p. v3 K4 o% |; O
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,6 M# P. b8 s7 }9 b- U
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of& m# U l! ?9 N$ z, r4 E
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
, \& }" [1 q: Q, ^hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among; \, l4 I% p! ?5 i
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera5 N t# x& C+ {) |/ ^
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
$ ^3 X( R( W3 A% w% P* ?3 s% D( yharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
8 K' o7 q* G+ c) O! ^! ~0 l/ f1 }descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
. W7 n* R0 Z: k9 z. uforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I6 L# `5 u, X2 u" {. m( e. x
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great, M/ [% u1 ~# U+ B1 u
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
5 e/ E* \' w$ [/ e5 |and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
. u( p( ~# b5 L# S' V$ ]. e: thas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
! T4 e6 x' ~; w' c/ Jof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that2 }+ O" W8 Y' o: ?7 B( H
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are. z. P" |$ o# F7 q
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
* l" x6 b# x h0 k; G- S2 Bsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
" }9 @2 A. o9 ~want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
+ w! V3 d1 o1 A; K0 I' Dto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is& W8 t& i3 t6 J. z
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,; a7 U8 ^5 ]- k. l
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
f: O/ L+ S& u5 Rstill 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
" ~* f" G3 u- j1 x' ~7 r3 v0 j0 S"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make; @0 A1 ?- @ ~ }( B) s0 M4 }
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
8 I0 [2 H1 ?4 ]: y( L ?a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a, O4 y: I: k* n# ~. t2 s" z" [
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across9 r( V2 _0 V9 g! y \
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
& r3 j/ i* Y( B& C* N, Vimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for3 |4 c" r% M. \# K( Z- B
development.
Hutongs
, m7 h6 G$ K+ M! B: t1 a$ A! @6 T$ |in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
% \& f7 m( T; H6 ]$ g- Uthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions2 a7 P; n5 N9 T: H& |7 {
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not) L1 G' x( B* N* c0 a. R- G- _- {
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you- q- D5 m2 {, p! V* m2 |
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
6 C6 Z; D# }* D$ Q2 QFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date; q [+ k$ p( q- p* I# m, E
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
5 l5 m" i' c) j1 I& b3 L7 j; O" e4 Sto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
l' i1 k4 S! @/ X% [/ p% Y! W0 X: tsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically) k; f' L5 V6 i; S* h
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to1 l4 E% l+ H+ ? i. i
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
8 _' ^8 e+ c% I$ D" v, ]hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
% T- u) N' i& ?6 \. nbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
( H$ T1 J, `; g- Y1 Iproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be: O4 G% G% o6 Q
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
5 F' H$ f9 r$ U7 ^% ?Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how% c% `% L; }" w; s/ y; v9 ?
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be5 O, h3 i8 N" ^3 n3 n) n4 |: Y
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished$ X) N( X. O5 X& e' |/ w
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
1 o% |4 f" A7 E& u$ ]( WNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are, w- |% D1 `5 G2 ^( \1 D0 R' A5 K
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially6 [, _/ G1 @& o# r* R r
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image7 r) N: L' A2 o( `3 v# L
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
( W- h9 V P3 E: L, OHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
3 F8 |5 @- b+ {* M' ypeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they& a0 R6 D. k- M
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some4 ~: M: h% N4 ]9 {$ ~2 [7 Y8 W7 T+ U
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
' [+ J: [# g, K. s, q8 p. S+ q c"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all" F8 v3 }/ ^! B: o
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise4 [. i7 A$ X7 W- i0 _
apartments are the way to go? No.
2 D2 r8 C# b# L9 I) m: E
5 @8 H7 ~6 P2 D% W9 X$ J# M $ S( j) h6 E3 L$ L4 t$ E
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the7 H- U3 q3 i$ I( T
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this0 r+ v- t7 B3 L& x0 i8 `+ O; ~
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
2 P/ o, Q: R8 F4 E9 G9 zno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so: F# ~/ s6 T5 B) _8 X6 h* j
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
, I5 n" [" R# A; {7 J* Z: aresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
! [1 ]- I; e& F& LBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
' H8 \- m x5 I) @- w. iunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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