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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
& P9 o+ s- Y! U! J! D, z- Darchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider4 g" k c b" D; g4 M- b
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian": Z$ t9 f* D+ [$ z2 y
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
7 C, b% |0 C1 t8 A0 ^, w Q# rAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
2 {4 L& u! Q+ E3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of$ {) H! z- D0 ]5 y8 L6 N& i* y& R
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within+ t' z4 K5 a, Z: G, N. m% |( u9 D
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among/ s- u8 T& v0 N0 B+ M7 W3 B
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
) Y! D1 {0 _& vand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
& @- O/ R) N' B9 ^harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
5 F: O( E1 f* gdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
( b5 W6 K( ~4 Q* T: wforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
3 N/ y8 J! [, b8 Gwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great7 n U* `: G3 F& } q
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,, O# W, f; J1 E. {7 R" E' ^7 G- D( {6 \
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong! x: ~6 C5 f/ C
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
. z/ H r. q/ P; D+ [- Oof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that' G7 q! O r+ i
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are) {5 M6 S* d9 t" v' v7 G0 s
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a6 o% M, C* d+ R( y
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
. s8 |2 \# I: X# K) X% [3 |want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move7 I( r5 W8 R, u# |$ w. E: o
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is4 Q! @2 G/ z. R0 i) h1 i# o
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,+ U* r) Z; b* D
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are& Y- O8 Y. J7 p2 Z
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
# X/ K0 f2 q! A' B( i"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make/ N# c; U" a3 }& ~
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
( A3 x: U3 w* [a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
$ R; F5 }1 k7 T7 f0 {( y+ bparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
2 t4 l' Y6 I7 J, o2 M( 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
: `; R) x: l0 K1 e8 Fimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
% D) W" v9 y9 hdevelopment.
Hutongs
1 c% K+ S3 _: B* f7 f" K. Uin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
" U; k; [ ?, qthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions8 T# X; p$ _% M+ \& s% F) N2 w
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
) l8 v1 \9 y) g# M& ahave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you6 T( V0 G" H/ v
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
+ n( k' j; k2 A& y$ O* ~9 {Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
* W# w) \2 x$ l: _4 G! b& n1 D, zto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used7 s+ L+ p' w4 R7 [+ x
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
4 ?! `0 }3 {: N$ P, g" tsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
4 g! u; }( M0 @8 n4 D5 J$ Z3 ~- k/ [4 sunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to0 X4 [9 V( I6 f- z
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,/ s/ S( K [. B6 _
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the0 x# p9 Y; H# u8 f+ b5 K$ k
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the0 @4 [0 Z8 O6 [1 t: {$ R# L: l
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
( o5 V/ @+ A' J" {& F0 zrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
6 U+ N- h3 A) m$ G, s3 S/ ], P GMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how1 q B: [- g: l3 ]
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
" M" P0 l4 S3 \- [torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished( J2 K- @7 S, G/ G
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
: k# m- \) ]$ iNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
, }9 y6 W4 a0 \+ |1 {aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
3 i+ v5 C B+ I' |non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image- W6 x8 q0 b6 J* I
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these/ e2 ]) O2 j h. P: V) S% `
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those& q9 H1 g& `1 k" x
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they. T: a g9 x$ W6 E5 {
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some% }! ` Z( |% O. ]1 S
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
' R: f4 Y" Y! _' l"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all5 x# a( m; B Z- ` C
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
2 t% z$ ~ l& t7 @5 V$ fapartments are the way to go? No.
; E: V2 u [3 I# v R 5 k5 o+ \8 T: n7 K1 `, s I
( I. b5 [' l7 m2 i' V
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
; l' `8 T0 i! K; zsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
. f' I; ]% ]8 y( ?- n# z' a& w* O'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
4 B" u+ u" d* X1 Fno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
( h. W+ u. ~. s' U2 sfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
+ k* K8 k) {0 k- kresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
! r3 d6 R, {4 U. p3 I8 o' KBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
/ K" x* S! Q5 W7 k+ f& |unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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