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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
8 c5 h; r( i9 H5 ~architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
: r, P) D; b8 J/ Y5 Z3 z6 {Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
: `. M1 K8 h/ Hcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.( O; U8 f+ _! n& j# d
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,) `% |" p/ Q8 c+ S f/ u+ s
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of4 Q. F: f/ |0 F: i
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within [; D. t6 k4 l; B4 ]
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among( ^$ c# `2 z; q
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
1 j( n. u7 z) X1 Eand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
! P6 w8 @! o7 x" o& E7 p2 P7 pharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
7 q5 p) H' s# Y8 J) X {" `; Ldescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
8 E+ q! h% |+ R1 Fforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
: d- o! a( [+ I1 G* Hwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
; }' a0 _1 R) {7 u& iimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,/ V7 | @8 A2 O# [/ Y u T8 K
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong/ ^; s' s) ?% Q: u7 D2 V6 m
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
! ^' L/ I9 Q+ Y/ n3 e% I- n" bof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that; }6 _' L5 e9 @, ~- _1 W. F8 {9 R
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
# k6 i% P; L( b, t5 sonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
" l- F. P# D$ x& B2 jsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government2 |+ l N( c& q" S+ B9 o
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move4 |$ l; ?* W. k+ C
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is: p' Q4 G; Z7 j$ Q k3 O+ N6 L
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
/ t# p9 M+ C( o! Y" [this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are% k1 u/ K/ @$ X& n1 y
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 to4 K A, E, s/ d: F; Q, t+ M
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make I9 L) F4 s) P) U% z% M# O; ~
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
( x& k, B" w S+ E+ P5 za beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a7 y& r* s* K+ a6 H" B
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
, C9 Y5 v# N% K( }$ Sthe 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' M$ P* \3 a/ R) }1 q
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for2 h8 _6 [& ^1 e
development.
Hutongs0 ^; A! }. J0 E4 p E
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived$ u) Y3 [' D' \
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions3 c! V9 U0 t4 l; z: x7 j
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
& h, {5 a X, {) Mhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you' w$ E* u1 q" A4 g% {
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
# S5 Y4 Z* ~: m) j4 IFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
" _6 t+ x' o# |" |9 O$ y6 dto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used& E& z/ J. W2 b+ c
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses# Z1 R8 m2 @' z, B9 B
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically8 t- E3 L- M( }2 Y
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to) i( T' x. c' T
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,; Z" r, x/ ^/ ?/ k( K; t
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
. T8 s( x5 K, {9 u' n1 y6 f+ Obalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the, Y( x3 t' H2 s7 w
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
* X4 b0 J: v" i& p2 T7 }renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong M* ?) D% u9 t
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
T) M4 W( N. U: N. r. hpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
+ S2 f1 U9 ~# L Z' ctorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
% f3 x2 D: H/ R4 J! Nmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".2 d3 c3 o9 [; Q: G5 \) `
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
! m/ b- E2 ]. Y- B4 a* E1 X- {) Aaligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially) h/ j7 p, W" i2 |6 {: m) l, U
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
) Q4 n: k! R. V3 v1 A% }5 Qof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
; Z$ }. E# {, w4 i; \Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those B5 \. {! E; d* |% g- `6 ^
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
3 P. R0 h3 S8 Q; j h* hmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some$ a. d) m7 k( b+ S) ^
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
! _" a; c- `% H( Q% @' [: Q8 I" f4 h( T"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all8 [) S% `8 H2 ], p+ \: g
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
" F# e. T+ _8 B* S/ L3 sapartments are the way to go? No.
* m) t: J7 q, f8 t2 g % K* L) `; Z% z- @
5 G) y% }: H$ S: X# ]6 t$ ~
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
, M* X& z0 [1 A) k1 M2 u. ?situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this, Z W8 d/ f$ I$ I; V3 n
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make i9 ]8 |( b: p2 B
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
, d" N# D5 f) k" l( E5 P Nfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant8 M$ q3 K* j) S5 h& n3 [$ c' _
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
8 w7 x4 {( R6 Z0 q+ k5 }$ z: sBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
3 k: \+ O, w( F0 xunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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