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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" U$ X' f4 I/ X
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider6 ^6 Q% \6 G$ d5 N
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"( E, ?$ \1 g2 I& h; b
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
' K3 j' I& s+ OAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
) w6 `- J% c9 v1 z' f; w3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of: w9 n" }0 m; B* z- O7 m/ G) c
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
( I- U- S% u, C" K4 j: q7 ]6 Chutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
* s; C! k1 M! a0 qeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera7 @' e9 N9 r2 f. i+ a2 ^
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
; a: L/ G& ~$ y4 s+ I+ n6 gharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are5 v" \ N$ r0 S- e
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
0 t8 S0 |. c2 U1 |3 bforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I d$ x! E- g4 G
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
: l$ l4 ~# H# s: a4 \impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,, c5 ]& q& @5 ]2 y Y
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong7 B( v3 q7 g( Q
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
1 h. {, F1 ^1 I9 L( Mof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
0 }+ [; Z6 Y }1 _, Bno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
# m- d4 G# b7 _+ Monly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a4 R- [5 \/ v' h$ P7 ?* q
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
$ n( ~1 K& W4 cwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
* \# _: W) _" h. K! x2 Qto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is; q( @* `& o3 }+ B5 o
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
$ R2 U7 E- V5 ~% m7 V0 j6 H c+ U1 a1 f" Dthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are6 i5 z9 ^( D4 W" F7 P' i
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
. a( z" M3 C9 `5 D"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make5 C1 @+ L* P! {9 C& x& D. d
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was1 D. C% W* _2 T# X% l) @
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
9 [+ f% |) k$ L0 D4 N% b! F; nparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
4 ?- @6 p( X+ K3 `; ~8 i) P, u' \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
/ @: U& O# v9 Y) O7 timportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
2 x, T1 P" ?! k" P) ]* E% Idevelopment.
Hutongs& m- h/ t( j9 H4 K# |
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
; G0 l/ u" w7 @there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
6 _8 ?; k& D6 J0 H% l2 ~in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not( p2 Z, X# K2 \: Z1 L# g% g
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
$ O1 r0 `* n0 i6 n+ U* s; Kwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
o. v# C$ c. gFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
$ q7 M0 {* S. a7 C0 Vto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used5 B I9 w; J9 E% t' m) `
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses* Q& B3 [( i4 c6 q( ]! Y. K
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically$ A; Q- A m# n" `
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to3 L, x0 r0 j4 b* M
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
9 b$ V1 E2 I' A2 j- ^, t5 Lhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
: Z, t/ Z* r+ M) rbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the& y, w5 C% e) N! N; f; P% t
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
( L7 s8 `7 N( }3 orenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
! |" H6 d7 [9 w& E: G% jMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
: E8 L+ x) l# ~) ^/ zpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be3 S% N; M' \3 O4 W7 y/ s8 a' O6 a
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
* D3 D: d# N* cmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
. T' t+ q: {1 r v% dNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are1 `2 d) X5 A3 F; L" b$ i/ {
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
" ]# t/ g2 _# n, V- Z& qnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
, N2 P+ F% ~4 \1 oof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
( z' }, [! C6 U w* c. u% @Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those! u8 l! o! \7 ^1 H' ]
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they* d! c" x1 Y6 Z/ ^9 R( T) L: B
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
: z/ Q3 q( \) L, M( s. yof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before* i7 z- d$ G/ P9 s& ~ ?/ [" c
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
: P5 N+ M# V3 Y& C/ F9 a* gpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
- b# x7 p+ |& t- m5 G/ f; kapartments are the way to go? No.; i$ U. j3 I# T3 ^
A6 ]9 j# t# m7 g2 v6 S $ y* q' ?: f' t
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
" V. D5 p6 H. S; o$ E( ], K- Asituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this; s/ q" _$ b6 D1 ^/ O
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make( l# [1 |! E$ {2 w" p
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so5 k5 E6 o; i3 Y5 |8 S' Y$ ?
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
" [& c# V& G. e( p. L1 ]$ Xresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
) u. L2 ]: }1 {1 V* g: FBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
, o1 q1 n: h) ~" Y% S. Tunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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