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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
4 X/ C' N9 V- N W, s5 w/ @2 |architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
/ d: a/ N& ? ?! }5 Y4 [) u' xBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"/ G* N3 ?6 E0 H7 g9 }+ L2 J+ c
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
0 L* E2 h4 f; Z" IAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,6 j1 K& i& f) x
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
3 V6 W' h. U2 X! ^5 Z) {Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within) o/ Q& ]* Q6 u) C+ s4 r' ?
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
' P" a2 c0 j$ n8 z3 B4 B0 [# Oeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera; d# T' q" y7 v T& }
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is1 Y$ K B; q0 q3 C$ s5 N
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are( Z* F& `/ N! d: E
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and- x/ Y; E+ h3 C! I2 S, b! z
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
8 w8 O" w, b" ?( Z) F4 P1 _was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great6 f2 T% Y* i, n {- ?9 n. K
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
/ K7 H" Y! ~# N+ Tand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong. j( r" j; W/ u; X
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment+ j5 [- k. M; W! ]5 v
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
3 \% N7 _8 _- Q! ?! ~, Fno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
1 C5 c: Y( u* |2 Qonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a% M' Z% X2 n5 L' x
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government; d1 B6 u8 N1 I
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
3 B6 `# \: K' F; Y4 S4 K! ?& xto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is6 Z. X3 ^& w r6 ]# W
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,4 `3 g4 r# s8 J9 R& s' Z
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
1 i4 V# O# G# y8 o7 @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
7 Q5 }& _1 {( `2 ~7 ]"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
5 I; n6 @2 D- |. w/ K) ?& @/ C! ymoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was4 Z. @ |! i# A+ r
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a: K. a& j7 t3 b U
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
$ y$ K% P" j- q( X2 T6 Cthe 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
% W# p$ |9 ~- z! T5 u! w- n. |6 nimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
, }+ @* B) X4 wdevelopment.
Hutongs, T" I) p$ j! r& o p2 A6 r* h
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
* R5 M" j+ N0 s$ R* Jthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
. @6 r& M8 I5 Q, lin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not; T2 ?' V! G* F+ C1 S$ Z$ T
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you& j1 L! r# y" V
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.0 Y- I, D1 z. T8 V
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date$ \: x7 q( f5 N3 M. S
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
5 [9 I/ t' v9 l% Q; @: Eto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
( o2 ^$ E" P2 \, M3 c m9 wsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
9 N) t5 o( Y* k1 vunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
# U& v9 A8 u5 i0 ~live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
5 ~& P3 Q+ i" F# ^hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
; ?1 x( @1 w8 J' Jbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
" ~; d' ?6 |( H' Sproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be) O( E1 J! b' B C4 ^4 i
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong! y+ W) ?+ |( n4 z: B* C) k8 h
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how. O" E1 g/ u: L+ q9 j, Z
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be' Y4 j D& j& O/ x4 ?& F- K7 ~
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
! z$ ~3 [ ^6 H: Lmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".+ [: k5 `6 I; p& a4 y/ o3 J$ F
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are" P% T/ n& @" A5 H# z
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
. S8 \/ C! @8 }8 Q' M: Inon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image: J/ j+ ^ m: ~. z( l9 D
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
- y5 a3 c3 K7 \/ T* n( V+ VHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
. Q$ w# Y# `: O. U& [+ Mpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
5 q: ~7 |; _* q% H9 B8 nmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
" |$ S5 @5 }: R, H) ?8 kof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before& Y4 K# H( M: H; o% s& v6 C
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
* J% ?6 V: u Z& a2 ]) a0 `% opeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise* G4 e# y6 u8 t7 W; I
apartments are the way to go? No.1 N$ B: b0 z' Z. E8 w) n/ K
x1 k7 H6 L4 |6 \ % q+ D6 s" H; X; I8 D
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
* ?0 \& v4 {% U: usituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
* J3 {3 G% ~7 p; o) E9 t'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make7 O6 n4 t# |; w6 z: ^; d' e9 `
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so* B9 K; N5 ?) u; f' w
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant( [. [1 h: s( S8 u
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
; p1 I+ z, E# n9 J& Z( D- `, ]Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is& z D6 f$ d' W
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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