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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
3 e C$ o/ }2 v4 \( Qarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
m# I, |7 {) wBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"$ {9 z( R% P* j4 O
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
; g8 U+ A4 n: X) [According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
8 W* y$ ^$ J- H8 F- u- W3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of6 R- z+ d8 h8 W& X2 C9 O
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
' T2 o* c9 H3 Ihutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
- }+ G$ s) x4 F0 P8 f2 j: T, peach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera# S1 z# V1 W7 j
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is7 p: z. z( X( ^1 r
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
6 H7 ~/ J5 f9 f) F, A' Bdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and& H7 W) ^' d; J8 V1 |* G
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
: R9 a h& g2 Z" Y- i4 Nwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great, p- M, a+ `: L8 i" ^
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
% l7 | S: E' Cand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
* S' v0 y+ y' k0 e1 E' O) jhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment( l, E& V8 q4 P7 I& ]
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
0 q4 K$ F5 R* u1 Zno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
# _5 d* w# [0 c/ J" D% }only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
: H6 v9 v7 ^/ o& a3 e3 Lsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government' `" [# y3 P; U. V" Z$ S
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move) T' L- \" O: O
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is, t& y' d3 ^; a
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,+ D( {& h V9 b. J& S; T+ j- ?
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are+ Q) i( W) r$ ?# B7 H7 O: x: e! v
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
+ N) W7 o/ z) y" X( B"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
4 B* M& Y5 }8 Q7 ]money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was6 S" P8 r; F) }# @5 v
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a! A( F. q b# a! u5 A) g
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across, f+ G$ r- p5 L# o# `
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
2 J5 Y1 ]! u: J1 A6 |1 G7 jimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for/ l6 V; Q* z X, |8 I9 d; U
development.
Hutongs3 ~5 G9 i* D' l. b' x1 @: P
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
- k* \" j& C5 P/ E9 }there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions) N, f1 d7 R$ F! O$ }
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not) d7 C7 {3 m0 _! M
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
$ y* ]( S( q: Hwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.1 V5 W' @7 I! \' h+ U+ B
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date6 Z1 o7 r" P1 O: m, V% B
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
0 ~) K8 B# ?2 E- t! e0 I9 ^2 w$ dto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
9 y6 `1 J- q3 R% P0 l! S! `+ Hsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
M: L2 O% m: ~- \unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
; H( X+ d/ X' G7 R4 V) l$ glive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,+ d& k/ t! u6 C5 Y6 x" d% l* L9 o( j
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the( r6 V1 Q( x5 H4 V s$ g
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
$ l3 e6 ^ i7 B6 L* M! o) Uproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be, E8 {6 \% q) S2 H* ~$ S) D
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong* ~ F' m% p6 L2 J" O8 D
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
1 L1 u- I! p) kpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
" K" N! B* Y9 Ytorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished4 z+ I c3 H: x# E2 C4 _
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
5 Y' }' B& z7 [/ f- g: lNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are+ x; D# a+ }& ]7 q0 Q3 K0 Z% f: {
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
; Q- l0 H t2 E: z5 m) _ Tnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image' a0 [4 n# N+ f b9 ~8 F U" M
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
. ~( L, D! y N6 L" R" }- H) THutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those0 x- }, }9 E1 D0 Q* w( O& ?
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
6 `1 R/ ]2 {) Q- \ @ emay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
! d+ U$ j0 V. \4 g. D* [ r( t+ Bof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
: @& v2 e7 G9 o, p, E"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all, B/ ~8 Z% J j9 N
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
- g) {/ x0 b/ Papartments are the way to go? No.
Q8 E3 ?7 i E % Z( E1 u8 ~6 N
* g( F& {% N4 l
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
$ a/ X' z0 Z" M7 V; l0 _. Lsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this) a4 u3 @- i9 p0 H* N" K7 r/ W+ v
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make/ u# }, V% M" y8 \
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
9 s& A) F0 J, _2 N+ cfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant/ I! b4 R' W2 I% ]
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless3 ~: [* i$ P- N1 P4 U( M
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
2 d3 E* |0 M( B: Punlikely to happen too. Sad!
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