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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
$ ^% K" M5 X4 W; w/ Karchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider7 ]9 U% G9 r5 K7 N9 `4 n) ]
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
; p% ?* @0 m; @- a6 {9 ?0 ucity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.9 c; |$ r( t* K3 R& Q. G9 h
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,7 Q( v' H) H/ |+ v( a2 {
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
/ e* G# ?+ _7 [ H2 C. C# `5 ZManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
2 d0 `2 h" m. [3 Z8 O8 I8 C4 E$ `hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among2 H; n0 i* r% a1 D6 Q
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera6 N2 A B" h" _8 A. v
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
+ J, a2 w# [% \1 B% t* kharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are# u1 S! i4 {. @$ K6 C) Q. i: b/ Q+ e
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and% J0 V/ e; x, V# f
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
0 `* d' ?$ d9 Qwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
! E5 S5 O9 f& d, g0 \impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,# V. G, N" U* F5 X
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong/ q6 Y/ V& z& M8 E1 J$ y
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment9 i( M2 w% Z( r- ~4 p+ W# Z+ m$ q
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that! f5 ]. o; [0 X# T) R! i
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
) u, z& y1 p' X3 U6 Y, Y& Xonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
, |& H. W7 W8 f! ? T3 u9 wsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government- R- o" ]& f0 R# I* W1 u
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
$ h6 }7 U3 r |0 {to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
% C& z: a6 v7 |+ G$ ]6 E; W"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
0 G- `4 {' j: k6 N9 J2 k1 y) Hthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
4 J2 O- B/ U' d* ustill 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
9 C* `2 B( Z1 c" P/ h% l"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
3 n7 n' B# [5 j" |( }& j5 h$ umoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
* r( h% n, T. S# H, _. {% xa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a6 _' U7 [& `: z( |& }
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
5 C7 U* s w8 e4 L. v9 R0 e0 Z7 [8 C( tthe 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
& j9 y( Z% [. z" u$ m0 S' wimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
/ n' B* q4 }3 g, Q" N3 Kdevelopment.
Hutongs
: b* g3 E* C( G5 Xin the old days were residential area where people actually lived. m! B/ b% E2 v# N
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
$ }) q# g* o4 K0 n# i6 r- g+ iin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
, C+ M4 j0 o' M! c3 a# v! d7 khave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you4 X3 ^3 @3 C' R9 C- E' }) v$ W
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
+ I. I/ o) x8 o5 D5 z! RFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date/ Z2 K( V' k+ a. \& N
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
$ N( L, P2 u& Eto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
c. j' E9 Q9 [support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically$ z( J: b0 K4 z. O
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to0 d3 G9 H# a2 }8 u5 V
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
* Z! I, z) a" shutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the7 C2 j* p* } ~" q( a4 K; O2 F
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
1 g, n: z2 C" P( D# t5 n' P7 oproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
! i$ a& N; I& C# u ?renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
1 Q, ^; m$ ^0 Q! n4 o4 dMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
- V$ r' e0 t& L) \! H9 ?. |people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be% N3 \( L$ V9 `5 y0 [" |; h5 v
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
& O$ V' D; i3 ?, F: V- tmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".! ~7 S1 V: u! o6 |
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are* s/ e4 o7 Z9 J, r: s: Y
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially7 O3 K! Q6 N: D/ n: {1 {& X; U) K
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image q+ X1 C" F+ l0 a
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
6 O# F+ H; v' f2 m& s( zHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those X- r, {7 N5 c- p
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they, g2 X/ l9 U8 ]: K" j2 ]$ A! D) i
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
( x" Q' J) \0 @* L+ I+ p$ }of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
# J! c# k' k5 a: G% s"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
6 e6 Z# r, z, ppeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise5 [; E; b4 w9 A! }' B% r+ a
apartments are the way to go? No.
* m" ~) L! U+ f" A) J( } ) ]* n* q4 l+ c; {* ~
" ?7 w& S4 U7 b8 ?+ \
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the6 a; v( W' q! T! g2 K! [
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
& Z: |# S6 e: `) \ D3 f'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
, Z, K3 ? B' sno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
1 Y) S6 o& Y+ W; H9 Z9 ffast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant1 c' o' l4 @' ]3 M6 h! H
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless$ ?/ ~' v7 Y& @4 J6 M) V# p
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
9 n& V. V. f; q' F t- G6 _unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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