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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
& h& e- A# e5 @) Farchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
4 J6 D G6 M( c( ]Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"% s/ a/ j5 T3 t X& I/ L
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. ^" J1 @! }1 i, M. f, ]
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,2 ]5 b$ T# b5 W: H8 l
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of) \8 v$ D$ v3 x4 O5 d
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within# s1 ]" B4 O4 I# E
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
3 _# ~2 w0 h4 b3 Ieach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera9 b! C v" \- h
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
% D3 G5 r* T% X2 o( s; V* ]: Z' gharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are) [) V+ T0 n5 W" |# d# P
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and0 Z: b. c0 T6 p- w6 }) v i0 J
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I. I K$ H7 z% i1 x! X* z9 d
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great9 F4 E- C% v/ d: ]
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
! M" x' X5 g' ^6 ?7 qand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
- P& t; e+ Z2 t9 m% T# ]has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
' }! ~ X9 A5 B; L4 n4 L2 a8 hof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that' t0 `8 C$ N( E" D# _% x, m
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
2 z: G! @! x! O; P4 h$ \* ~% b/ Xonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
; V' K3 f3 J7 v+ lsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
" {8 G6 c! ]5 h9 z& K0 ]want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
* M) p. S/ O. X9 p/ R) {& Fto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is- J- S: c7 g' [4 { i4 o4 K$ m/ D' D
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,% x) z6 D" k) j" \' i# D
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
0 V3 x5 B4 ~: ~3 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 to3 d# K) b1 v( S, k8 b/ O. O
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make: M* z$ B8 w6 o6 f# b: ~
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was: w6 h1 T% F; E5 Y: J
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
W; g1 B7 O+ J/ L0 e% {. o3 [parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
7 C- W4 G0 ^; }" mthe 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
; n, c% V# ~. P9 aimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
" z* i p( ~) Z: rdevelopment.
Hutongs
( h! x6 e- ], c+ A3 G' }' S# Kin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
3 o. ~2 A# f; E$ {$ m" Qthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
5 f& K3 L/ J1 t% ^in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
6 u$ g# j2 Y: ^! [' ~have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you+ O* i. P1 U! V$ d Z5 v" t. i
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. J. | u1 ~7 T' T T1 x; j1 \
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date. S* s- b+ \- K6 K/ h
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used0 J' m5 k! R0 H1 X* n' O
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
& c" i2 F- F/ Hsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically% _5 L P- M- p- g$ a5 [
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to4 c; n A! F5 E
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
, X3 s5 s; C/ u3 l$ P* a: bhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
- E4 b, K; Q/ {4 P9 wbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
+ H4 A, E! o, T% F$ a* ~8 bproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be4 Q8 F" Z" F1 s$ p
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong! q. S% g4 `% T$ b1 t3 K
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
* f6 y0 X" b, H; b) a& c- c) g0 G5 tpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
3 }7 I$ z4 y% C' K. h: ~torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished" g; W. S" a) \7 M/ y" I3 B+ @
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
& d; I# ~* r6 G5 O/ ANothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are4 L- R0 n5 ?' m6 M
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially2 T: P( p. y' x4 J& E9 g
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image8 H- T0 Y1 Z/ D' G S7 ~5 b& W* U B
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
7 a/ O5 c$ E6 q* D$ ]Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
+ A2 T* T" g+ n( w# M% Q' T- Hpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
! @- x: r+ Y8 d) Emay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some) Y: l! t1 z" ]
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before$ F ?( p5 X5 F2 F! Y
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
) {. E5 X7 Z! q4 N3 u. V, lpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise& q( g) z6 ^1 f( v
apartments are the way to go? No.
9 t( X4 O/ q/ C- A4 w3 Z 4 Q7 R! ?; x* q
" u& r! E3 Y$ h5 ~
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the6 y; s, Q/ M& Y4 h, ^+ {! o
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this: x \- I( M; H7 Y* O' k7 ]2 i
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
$ q2 K: @1 ^ O* p+ }no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
# ?8 E4 y3 n4 B7 Ffast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
5 t9 V* b, U( L& L/ y. W" M4 Yresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless$ R" g- @; Q2 N+ v$ U; S; ~
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
, i/ t# @% h+ x5 k! G4 H0 uunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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