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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
! E2 w$ `/ O$ b. P3 Farchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
1 Q7 @$ H! N: d; }1 h1 S" a ?Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
, _& q7 i" R& G+ ucity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
$ X# I9 A: L# tAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,, K5 i5 i( M+ x+ j
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of n8 T. S1 p" o. g4 Z- i* b
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within( W: U* b, t# q' Q* ^
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among A# y: W3 c) \3 z
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera j$ s1 p, j' A; Z6 H
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
, k% A: P( U' v, V4 Wharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
. X4 c4 ~! a/ Q* U/ ]) X8 ddescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
* @# V/ F/ h/ {! c1 Iforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
7 d I3 ~7 d2 J! v1 T' Pwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great9 d/ J0 k& f( n: b4 @, I
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
* h! u. p* x2 c4 ~, ~* U9 Kand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong" w1 K9 r B% f) ?
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
( b. v2 `' ^) G9 J& _( Zof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
: f$ N0 N+ s/ Qno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
! V7 W5 k! ~& m+ o7 qonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a$ G" V4 Z+ w( k3 C- r1 H! a1 z
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
7 \6 z# Y* I8 q1 I' Z, t) jwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
8 M6 R9 O6 B2 L) O; {to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is9 C2 | j2 Y* Z& V
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,9 N4 [) K0 v( g
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
+ l1 n2 \0 l3 Zstill 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 p8 D' C( w$ @9 i, J5 J8 Q5 y5 L
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make7 H/ d. N7 y3 e5 F' {- s1 K
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was8 x( _- n% {8 ^& v5 d0 M, n3 H
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a) m$ s' a. Z% w8 @3 l
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
4 s( J/ p# R! ^ Sthe 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
+ X: b" }# W2 Z) Z% H0 C% i z0 Pimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
2 r9 B% n: V' X& w; Q" Q; Idevelopment.
Hutongs+ o, Q/ J7 ~3 p. J* Q- ~
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
$ @# x4 z: i3 r) Jthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
8 v, e5 t7 }4 h4 B1 nin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
1 ` i) { M. {+ lhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you7 t. V! S7 c) W0 f8 a; W- C1 Y
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
o" m" A% |0 C1 @# E$ XFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
, ~# K; A! D8 q# O% i- D: H7 i( yto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
: L- h$ f+ b$ l5 ~ S4 Yto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses' L; y/ A! h' \: q3 r+ [7 {
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically4 N/ b0 G! S2 S& S6 T. h- G4 T
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
% J' H7 I/ h2 ^; C" i& Q/ S U1 ^live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, L7 M" W4 l. d' S
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
2 W: P0 E. Y9 Rbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
( } D% v1 y/ m- e" F: M, @project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be. `; ?- x- `$ J( n/ w) Y
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong2 h% J7 p V+ d3 l* I
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how6 l- G- K' [- d; V* G" ^- y( T+ T
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
; {3 [" q K8 T( Q) ~+ Ttorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
1 M# n L( A3 i, gmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".; p+ B% v0 D# q9 ^; }, v* K
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
( C6 ^) ^8 u( g2 Ialigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially2 P6 _) R( [3 X6 p+ X1 {
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
# n' }/ @0 K3 `+ Q& v. U4 s0 V" L Bof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
7 y. [3 k, |* u7 M/ S. Z4 YHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
! M# [8 A: E" npeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they/ W% s/ e# `( O7 d' N, X' s; Z
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some6 |4 m$ x4 U! H
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
' L4 w* F+ S# U8 q"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
5 ~7 k, [' O& U( q+ A+ opeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise A) t/ [% Y- S- ]& k/ G' Q$ X
apartments are the way to go? No.! w9 E. L3 v( [; s6 W' x& T
/ c2 d: p3 w( o4 I4 H$ E
8 m E/ i2 n# s
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
/ a4 | r4 F- F0 osituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this' A9 W. j0 C0 {) e8 F% j5 S
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
* R5 @; @/ G% Wno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
9 q1 w5 m" ]4 a6 k; efast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
1 B4 c& ~9 K1 K- q A6 Sresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
1 M8 Z) T' b4 H( Z9 d0 p9 R$ f( VBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is% }1 A* K7 B4 @! \' `. l
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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