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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
" n% I( d* u- @2 x" Uarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider8 z5 c4 t8 ~! t5 p
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
# ^0 p/ T# d: v0 q- gcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
, ]8 F5 W8 S* yAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
1 I3 C+ i; @0 Y* @3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of/ D0 }& G$ {/ d. v1 `
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within8 G' {4 h- b5 t) P3 Q
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among/ m9 m+ [5 h: W+ O+ t% d* g! b
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
' ]& P# i6 \) w& I9 aand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
) w- d& d [, R" M- ^harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
, A. |' i" p& U2 X5 pdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and; }1 n8 W. C; O% T! m! X8 ?
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
) Y2 x/ a0 W' B& |* gwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great, @+ N; }2 ~5 T) X m2 l
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,- Q0 K$ }7 z7 n9 J
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
$ p! {6 q$ g5 a8 a7 T1 Bhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment V: k2 d7 R+ d$ {- C9 n
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that; O) u$ S, D( x2 `
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
5 o, N. U/ t6 G O, t6 Z. fonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a* B- I. K2 ~; o6 q" r: f( W
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
: M. @: \% T- [0 A! K. cwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move% |& p. V- [/ V" d/ k' c: {
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is p4 q' `, S/ E0 D
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,5 m. G$ o3 {* f& Y- m
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
9 ?6 p& `9 Y6 B$ s5 k. ystill 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
2 o9 |# {9 v) Y"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
~ B' j4 R; a, m8 m: Zmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
7 W0 a: N Y# G2 z8 [/ q9 ea beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
: m) }, c& ~0 k" r0 xparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
5 o- _& I1 }* ithe 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
9 A L4 t6 U( j, ^: D# @, aimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for. d, O6 I5 d1 X D) A4 V
development.
Hutongs
1 v R S0 m: z. Y" F, f( Yin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
- e# |' Y4 o- L: ~$ d) Y; athere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions* Z( f8 d; a8 H" j" b, b6 H
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
& N& |! ^9 c( o8 ?) ghave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
* G O* J0 p, J( Pwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
) O4 J+ a2 F9 Q, ^% D4 v0 uFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
' n; N. H" ^9 T( `/ ]5 e! M& lto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used- w7 h7 D) G" ]* j
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
. J5 o* K: c0 q5 |' Tsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
( H& N) b9 E0 d; ounfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to7 E- x- i3 v, v/ O! m# j" c, T- O
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,: L. J/ J$ _6 T+ {
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the$ W# c, H+ M5 }' H
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
2 P4 C! N! P f; U* z/ Fproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be1 z0 I' t# f" T5 a
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong# J+ g. K# K0 i
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
% {1 y2 e* A4 f* G7 j; Gpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be7 }) o! V+ J5 o/ J
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
; |/ I+ ` c: l3 H$ omemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress"." h. P, \* J5 O. K% @1 P
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
$ a. U: R: \! Daligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially1 C4 {: t2 l, ? O
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image# d$ t# U0 W- O* _) z
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these: ^% {/ A7 s4 `' |7 E0 k) L
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those' m9 Y* N7 |6 y
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they7 O/ f& O5 { d. [2 N7 k
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some1 T" i9 d1 l. T7 o
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
4 u8 E+ n0 k2 ^1 ~9 i5 C7 f4 U"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
, f, u6 p P [6 t6 o Ppeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
2 d* ^& V+ G1 j$ E2 Japartments are the way to go? No.( c: G9 W l. |$ \! n
# J. G1 N4 b8 N6 i% M, p) c ( y; k8 b9 I0 s* u( \$ T
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the7 U- P# M$ p* r( H( f+ j$ _5 x
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
, d7 r: f9 A) U6 U& a'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
y* T: ?+ A" gno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
( P' W# a4 F( _7 Z$ C3 lfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
* E/ z) @0 w7 Nresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless% b: W# J- @# t$ i* g, c
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
( W1 Q! c( {2 D) H- ?/ Wunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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