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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
1 ~8 L, j9 H% Iarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
) y! c" f* c! A. N& JBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian" A+ g; t3 Z, `1 c, K6 l
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
; G! C7 ~( l, l4 t- P/ b5 OAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
$ y- @) k. @9 K3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
4 G$ z9 {6 n! dManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
1 ?/ e+ b+ {- b P( w! k- Phutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
" S" H1 e f0 ]& H" Y8 K! Jeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
. l7 e u0 |6 i9 u# I/ g# Q8 t6 [and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
3 |+ p' A8 D; T3 Wharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are' }% f* H% A J. u* E" l
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
# x J% m3 ]8 X! e- G; x( iforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I+ Q6 z' ~+ {9 ^/ ^7 Z, l! l
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great; Z5 S+ T6 |: c1 J7 i
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
5 j6 m' S( ]! oand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
+ ?4 j, w+ d& S bhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
1 f# g y- C: O* h4 z- S3 ~: Qof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
6 G+ I; p i# c. g. h+ m5 Ano hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are7 _( F0 v7 g+ F8 E$ n, {5 u7 J; E
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a" v. d( C/ M, d9 r
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government) Z7 ]; ]0 E$ E# J
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
) e i/ E& ~8 e& l, D( C7 _# xto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
6 J+ S0 q5 O2 H% E5 z8 q5 u"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
" A1 d# {8 s0 V) t) F) Othis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
' @. F( x, S2 G9 f! n1 vstill 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
) J& J& [' Z o1 D, b"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
5 Q8 h. s6 }- `! q6 b4 imoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
3 S; p, {% Y e( {+ J+ W) \7 ya beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a4 _8 T4 l q1 E3 o# W3 W% C
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across) v8 D1 B: k3 S1 Y
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
, h4 O q# F) timportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for; x6 s1 j4 F! `: Y) V: k
development.
Hutongs8 _6 Y$ I& Z G0 \' m- g# f* a
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
# H! {1 I3 N& d u! x" q; R5 ?3 Ithere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
( q9 V$ D2 |) @0 g% w/ D3 [in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not r Y. D1 ]. K% {
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
, J, @5 t0 |2 E2 z4 `1 \5 k% I( Ywill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.) | d' o( H) W+ ^% F, C
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date( y0 ?4 ]' w0 f( T/ F
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used' M$ k, N% j/ z3 f+ V
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
/ W6 Q/ f4 A. p8 Isupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically z0 ?9 Y5 ]7 ^; ]. h
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to8 v. ~. H0 `0 F& W2 Y
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
: v: P6 o. J! s6 I( J6 T; s* N+ khutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
5 i; r [3 x+ m; l3 |$ mbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
- ] J7 V, i _% y/ N6 P8 Rproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
9 k7 Z/ E3 Z" `9 {renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong6 m+ L4 D$ Q! }! E0 w
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how4 }0 X+ [: Z$ ]+ {: }! Q" j
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be$ P4 @: W6 w8 N8 \) m& F
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished" [# i1 U0 M5 d. X0 m. l
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".* o# @0 w4 ]2 i1 v5 W
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
! j7 F( n( a+ g& u z2 M4 z" @( Valigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially, {$ t4 b3 p/ Z/ t
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image# H9 @0 j3 T% o
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
9 O8 x. ]' K, d# q0 H" V: fHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those" |% ~- a9 H* M% k) v
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they% f8 V$ W8 H" L$ E' B C
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
9 z: }2 c0 V1 Y' C/ e& H" R3 sof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before6 d5 ^1 x; }5 V4 a! e5 _/ ~
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all- w+ { f; o- B/ y) K
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise" d! K# \7 ~, Y6 P9 s3 f" P
apartments are the way to go? No.
0 `% S: l `7 I- f# D- j4 C
8 Y2 f4 q* ?$ ^; q+ v
% E6 D& ?" g3 m7 E9 k5 T
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the6 g" F% x' {1 {: V+ @3 n
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this/ b0 j% m5 Y% p1 u& E; ?
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
% x, c9 Y7 T) d% R# K- L Q4 ano money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so4 E& R' ?+ E3 l: D) `
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant) b9 V9 K$ y7 C9 s6 u
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
& T; ]# _% V) u( T( t" T$ _2 e% CBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is- l$ x: Z/ r" C: Z) ~# ^
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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