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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" C9 @" Y* Z+ ?8 U' v$ ], \8 f+ e
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
1 ~, |- k. C3 n3 q7 vBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"& S: c) P# `* f. q
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
8 c* P$ {/ r. S' Q4 X( }5 d$ SAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
8 `. y2 w1 z. E' N3 N4 |3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
- E" {! u3 s; O% E/ a: lManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
7 Q# ~6 K$ z4 vhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
4 S6 ?7 i4 t( B5 M. s# y) t4 Xeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
% H- V0 V6 _, l5 r0 A4 q! sand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
' ?6 \' t. ?( @( q# @2 zharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
% p' ?0 Q# _: w# Tdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and6 w- U2 j; I- I. W' G
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
$ u: S8 l9 l' E( j: k: Vwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great2 r$ E) q( Z' J* ]) L, H- I" H
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,9 a( W; `; W& h+ ]
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong, r8 Y6 V6 e; h/ d
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
4 v) N$ [1 [, R m* K0 Kof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that5 ~% M6 Z9 ~0 J g- h
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
0 w0 h9 {8 J3 I% G7 \- q* Yonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a8 T2 X# t3 Q) p: c8 T0 R
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government5 O2 V" \* F! M5 \6 d
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
! _3 ^3 z0 w0 }! b/ o* zto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is5 D7 i7 y! d7 U
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,& V6 r' b% H- a
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
: l" z, a2 U8 A; j4 D# C7 \! N! Q0 m' \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
0 l; `/ A2 I5 C% `, @2 w"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
6 b0 W: z {- Tmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
9 {; q' v S; ^+ S8 ]a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a& Q4 a" Y q' p' o! I0 ? ?
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
5 S! ^+ G) R5 r5 Y' V' vthe 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% ~1 O) X- B8 N( s
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
2 o8 [+ Z; B; K. b+ N3 F+ Qdevelopment.
Hutongs
) |; b0 n9 h7 N; v; x! O7 g) ~in the old days were residential area where people actually lived4 a7 }# R. ~( h$ v. n
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
1 X x! b. n- t" ~/ q+ j/ @3 J. Din hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not1 E* A% t; F& k3 C$ C
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you# h; `. W' p4 v
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
. N6 k0 | t; y, R" M- P5 [3 T) ~ _Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date( U; ]0 t1 ]! t7 `9 z, y, L6 G3 B
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
3 q+ r$ Q& g! q/ L3 F4 h/ S) w5 c7 ^, xto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses# E! G. l/ k w: q# r
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
2 J, W2 `( [* y0 Q' `* Eunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
1 j/ |/ _* u. e2 klive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
% v- J+ m9 v/ Hhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the" _$ u8 _2 |; o+ `/ \
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
, f& f* C- S, t- w6 [9 Uproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be% X( S# H6 L' q7 S1 J( t
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong. E7 C1 s$ P4 R2 W
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
2 @( L: Y0 O0 t: X8 v8 E+ o' opeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
8 p2 u$ a+ J Y4 x" }- s: vtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
+ r, s( H5 `. u3 w0 zmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".0 y3 E- G0 W8 a* k o
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
, l7 ~) w/ A/ \+ ~aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially0 O- R3 t: @2 v+ ~8 o2 ]/ |
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
1 E) U. i0 c, S9 A T2 M7 k {# M& Pof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
- f/ R7 Q e8 bHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those4 {8 Y' l6 J! b8 K3 V
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
2 f4 I% ~! k+ O# b$ a6 ], qmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some; r9 k& F7 ?7 ~
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before/ \2 m9 N+ m5 v: n( Z Q3 t
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all5 N% H4 r( x' a4 D8 O/ n7 u
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
5 N ^- I; |/ B8 H" m0 g X6 A8 Oapartments are the way to go? No.; q9 l# A( P- n; L7 T
, x' `% K' O5 H
+ X( D. P5 ~+ \; G: ^/ M; `' Y
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
, _( }" F" P2 S& G& g# O5 msituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this* z% r, G/ ~! G( K# @
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make3 u! z1 \( W. w8 t. N
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
- @! ~. i3 \% t: r& Q2 d6 ofast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
* j: `' n2 p' D' }3 `, H/ w$ V+ oresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
: \' S; x7 I' _! z& J+ u% u2 S! kBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is1 s3 C/ i7 f* a( z) F
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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