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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
. J; Y9 [9 l8 {8 s0 z2 `9 I$ M! carchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider4 [; b* V* ]0 }. r5 j
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian": L0 G* B3 Y" Z) S" p& G" Y
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.6 Z; d0 x* R+ {$ j8 S2 h
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,8 n2 @" n( F$ d( p6 n, ?( w; _. g
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
5 j3 n+ \% V2 k. N0 C$ oManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within3 a. i7 l1 L" a" G7 W7 W5 O1 D
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among2 U( v) K8 k c' g; F
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
/ W/ s4 X! L: y- d2 O" q, ^and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
8 @5 ]+ ^4 Z) i# E# }harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
3 d5 t* o9 {+ {# u) j7 _descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
" e. p5 |; e0 V T7 xforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
6 t3 e r% Z; `% ?: dwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
5 K% a8 y5 i6 l% S& eimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
) h$ _, ]3 _* Q. Q0 F$ |and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
+ Q! d, g( r0 ^has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
d" Q* R; G' nof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
7 I& i8 g- h. ?: Xno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
, L- S1 `6 |: J7 M0 Z7 n1 wonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
$ ?: A; H4 y) @, d2 z) Wsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
( n/ k' ~1 r& K4 y4 Awant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
/ B2 T7 }! `; o" t' vto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is9 @/ A6 {1 f+ x
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
; t: W- K5 g5 E/ Q& Athis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are; f/ N3 \1 ?) r& _
still 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* Q/ ~4 q2 T; E1 D
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make: n" L" P; z, X( A0 l# U5 P
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
, ?; Y8 S1 ] ha beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a' |3 w8 d9 b3 F" ?
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across! {+ s+ E: p+ ?5 ]6 x( |
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
, w: x+ I8 O0 m7 F2 b/ U+ oimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for7 }& y9 L7 A. M7 c4 t* c
development.
Hutongs
2 V8 W: Y/ N4 ]- Ein the old days were residential area where people actually lived
; Q* ]& @ m& _, n( W2 Fthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
2 ?5 ^9 e* N% o5 [in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not. q; N: a6 [6 e1 P- p
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
, f0 T, v7 C( T2 @+ y3 Y5 Awill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.2 L0 Z: U2 Q5 {0 q
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
]" F0 r/ Q- X( sto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used' v8 P6 W& d S7 q
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses) M E: I2 L$ O, i8 p! S
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
a) d5 |* f( K+ [. K7 |unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to$ w8 c5 A& L$ W0 t
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,& u9 P4 ]% d5 w1 `7 L+ q2 n
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
( p( s3 H, _4 ?0 H5 j0 Pbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the X4 M: X! L. e5 J$ H
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be9 w/ ~2 t x* B9 E: }# p, C, M
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong- B% q9 c# F+ a7 \: c3 W& W9 C0 F
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
/ v/ w& {) r9 _* ]- e6 P% Cpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be! c( f) }6 e. ^; s1 ^6 R
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
2 N5 H" U6 }( [( n+ |memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
6 S7 O. z [ d0 X$ R" X8 h3 i. _Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are: Q* {- i0 P" i5 ^" X( t' f
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
+ A2 p8 D0 g% U Qnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
1 U( I& e% o, Q1 R0 Tof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
4 t6 k% s q% B$ I' U7 d! C4 p0 }Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those& t" {5 p9 H8 ~5 M! ?$ B& U6 c
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they# e6 \7 m5 n6 f' A
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
% |$ j# C: C* F2 v0 m/ c$ M+ v# Cof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before" `& t2 c/ o- Y1 B0 [7 G6 C
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
_* k! _$ T" dpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
, H5 V; c5 m1 q: j, Oapartments are the way to go? No.
0 r, v4 h J Q' A: g, Y7 F 2 g z5 A5 p1 w/ _
i- {3 E9 u2 e% z* U* W
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the o7 {* T; R% T- ^
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this/ I2 [7 O- j) \/ ^) s
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make. X) b. X) H- w& _, Q9 \
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
; s4 ~+ P$ h& Xfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
! a! y; H0 F5 I. A; vresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
) k$ X" ]9 C9 ]& N/ eBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
; _5 W' _' T0 N# x9 \$ hunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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