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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
. D/ w' p. W4 f( M/ Tarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider2 \" E1 t- n& r1 Q
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"9 M2 a1 H2 [8 ?% }: [8 E/ J) g( E
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
C4 S% y" X1 SAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
. l! p; d) f& h3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
s/ h# }' U9 c9 e1 HManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
1 f- C* R" X5 H/ x! y; qhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among( t. f5 n7 |: Q) X& N" P
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera) w3 x! W+ o# S) t, D: h
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is+ C4 {& }" z/ m! `
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are0 _% [1 b7 k' H0 O+ A
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and% u$ K8 Y0 P4 I2 l( K" D. q) M
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I5 K: h0 O/ b; |9 ~
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
" A; J* K0 [# a& F& c8 wimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,, h! w1 |. C7 d" w, A0 T3 L" L
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong0 H9 ?4 E0 b5 i# L2 ]9 w
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment; J b( x- |# G+ N; b/ b& {" v
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
8 H' l" J8 p* ^& B' p" uno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are2 Q+ S4 T; n# i8 y. K
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
' T; O# F' h7 B9 D1 r8 K- e7 ssort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
5 `) Y d# ^0 T+ o9 L4 j( V1 nwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move* G4 T& j$ ]+ o9 J. |, z
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
3 R5 k6 U8 k, H$ ]0 K) M) G"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
7 B% [5 x$ T$ n7 b' Rthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are0 L0 H1 v- S$ B6 `
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
: M. L7 j3 g7 x, ^5 W: `"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
8 r% W! u2 O/ r4 qmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was5 u0 q. O% r" ]. C6 G \
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
4 j: v/ D* E6 M0 {9 B# ]/ Nparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
8 L9 X0 h6 m: h8 gthe 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
8 |$ Q4 O/ p; R5 M/ @, }5 himportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
! t2 B- \ V4 j& @! S9 Zdevelopment.
Hutongs F5 s& }2 U7 A
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived' T- }/ y5 K# k* \! t" P' T# }5 Z
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions( Y) q% ?" d' l6 R6 K) ~+ i
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not& N: F9 \- I( e# s
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you& W3 J( t! _6 O0 Q) s9 N
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
3 u/ R+ O) ?8 C9 i) bFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
: Z& V) e. ~( q$ b& Ato support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
* Z. p, T2 u' Z, Oto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
. _2 w; R9 _8 [support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
+ J# f, U2 \4 M2 r. A" t$ Munfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to; c: K2 B! p5 Z; R4 O+ J
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,! `5 R# ^; ^- Q2 z0 R1 \. Q) m
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the/ i9 P! A* }6 Q6 [0 z
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
: _7 k( P. s0 pproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be. l. z! S1 T' [
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong- g7 n6 ^ A+ s
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how! C! b1 `* h4 d4 n
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be" r# L- F* B8 W2 a+ B& g5 `4 i
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
" P% \8 t4 `, Y. {. z8 Omemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".) O3 H& V1 ]% D% ~9 N5 @
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are, |5 {- _' u6 G$ N8 ^
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
5 Q. I9 x- N) v+ C" D ~! r5 Dnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image" m0 T2 E8 E- S% X; a$ y
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
+ `* ]* U6 u0 C, }/ g# k) N! W1 D1 ?Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
2 H6 ]+ J* O0 v" q2 Rpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
6 D, Y4 f5 s4 E, Z jmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
" _+ B, I2 S/ E8 bof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before1 _% N7 |* e8 i& Z
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
$ a" L5 Z, A0 i/ o7 f( |people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise& ` `3 ~. o i: \
apartments are the way to go? No.
6 G, ~2 {! e% R' c _% K. F3 Y( |3 [2 Q& T
: \% y4 ~* V7 D+ k) A3 ]8 X# z
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the4 @2 Y8 z5 s1 g/ x+ r/ Z
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this9 l5 C# K9 Q' u; J% P# ^5 T
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
% {- } E. j. d# Y3 t- Pno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so' h) ]% o! g' h5 j: U4 y9 Z; c
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant% B3 O7 C* P* |7 O' ?& }4 K3 P9 J
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
7 ?& t- @: [* \' {' H8 k1 YBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
7 h7 S( O, d9 E9 P/ a# n8 Dunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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