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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
- Z4 X9 }, c) w5 o% H" \9 i/ _architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
* P9 D3 I/ w( Q/ E% lBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"4 [* P5 t. \+ O$ }% ? V
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.5 b' q; v3 S0 v R2 e8 W8 G$ m: R
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,2 l" a3 g8 M2 Y6 J/ P' \' ]
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
1 t6 b A7 C) Y9 JManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within% H3 |! m* S' V9 T: R6 _
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
$ k2 T' z. K+ ^. w$ C# y9 heach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera2 Y, J4 r9 y& \7 z
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
2 K, Y9 [& k; q2 Uharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are: }1 ^1 H/ Z0 m1 i" P2 e! X
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and. u3 S! E9 {( V4 h* d
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
. X0 o$ T7 n1 C* Qwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
$ D" R6 k9 D" D% p( N- zimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
; R" W" x. s' \+ Q. h2 tand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong1 H; G+ E! S D8 `2 X
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
5 N9 e* @5 D7 O ^4 d# V& U. Z- J; }of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that2 Z' n5 B6 c# K3 b; f5 o) W
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
; O W' U6 m# f$ e6 q, W$ Ionly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
2 `: E t6 ]3 t& B+ E: R9 v' v& Zsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
) P8 x! p+ ?. p/ }% |3 Swant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
4 I) c% x$ \. `to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
1 V" V% k! b, P"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,# E' H) j% ~3 T* b* x% N# g
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
1 d! s1 q: n: D6 N8 c5 p wstill 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 to6 ?; Y( N. A4 |% A4 s) E
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
6 K% H; Z4 I# @; amoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was% j' g) L. x6 P0 Q. Y5 V( e, C- M7 H
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a1 K/ m7 |, h- t* y( u
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across4 J% I- w$ U9 {# {1 b
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 cultural7 o1 n- I7 V k' {0 d6 g( a3 N2 E
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for# { R5 v$ u/ z1 p& |
development.
Hutongs# p+ Z4 m+ R' [* N% G
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived* q. v2 ~+ v% I1 t0 r; v: |
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
6 M0 G& P! }2 V' V* R# Lin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not5 C0 x Z2 B6 I, I. O; [/ X: v
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
3 \1 r7 L& e) }* ^will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.3 ?7 l/ f9 Y3 P8 V3 f, A# q
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
' J- h4 Y( R5 V6 P2 S# Bto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used9 v1 a& n. G7 u7 r9 r" T
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
" E9 x# C" o; V( w: f _support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically' \1 w$ S0 G, J4 m2 `- t+ L
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
0 J9 ?+ c4 S. J$ Slive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
: I1 p! Q: ~* e3 w% Phutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
; K; B! g0 J" j; ?5 Kbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the2 Z5 S* h x4 A$ r' y, c
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be# K* l% q8 {+ N) Q/ v4 ]
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong( ]1 e, t- R$ V3 O! p( \
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
& m: C5 l% R) Ypeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be+ @7 |" V* h! l, i# b. B
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished' K0 g4 t! t7 U+ M7 n- B
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
$ m0 k/ B' W& l- n# yNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
$ C, u! o: F+ J( O; {aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
2 L/ E1 ~6 G7 }% ]; F1 Enon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image) D) g' B2 E: ^4 Z# A& c: n) ~& G6 L
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
- ?3 m3 i" Z4 R: jHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
6 @. I: ], p, B3 O7 k& vpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
( \8 ^+ S2 H) x- a, r. T0 Y* nmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
6 I0 r' |. @, Vof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
5 P) c1 g1 ?4 S( U) }"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
/ D$ ^3 O- K# e( P+ s8 cpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise1 ]- u \. O# d" p: G
apartments are the way to go? No.. s3 `3 T7 i! K, i
. ?7 S; B& X, ^" m
8 l n5 W! o! g5 [
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
) i3 S' K% f2 Z- j, g- Z3 Usituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
4 ?( {2 e4 A( o'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make; g+ D+ a8 P" T$ B" k
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
) @5 T8 H! `* @+ y8 A8 }9 m+ \3 Vfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant3 [6 ], r2 a0 A, O
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless' p. S0 E; t9 c8 n
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
3 L) |' Q4 {5 ]% o7 C. n, r# Qunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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