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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( J3 D: W) e. U P* e$ D) M
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
- S: y+ i R8 z3 _! ABeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
6 s& m# S- v1 \) V6 f' g( Wcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.# y2 D# e0 \- m
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
8 Q3 d, z/ l& j: a6 N' X! b3 O C3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of& P# g1 E8 J( k4 q
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
. l) Q! O4 e2 t- w: r0 @) }hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among; l+ y9 a. M1 H! q4 F3 t u
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
0 o% Z: A5 O) E/ X5 N Aand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
+ |" O, A3 R/ K( H( G0 ?# }; Tharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
9 K- N8 `; b+ @7 Edescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
6 }0 r) g! [* c6 m, V5 G4 K1 yforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I) o. ]+ A4 o) I+ _
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
' Y% g" ~& [( r& l6 Iimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,% j A9 N+ P+ W! q) ^
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong9 g) n; x& B" z, q6 L i) f9 w p
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
5 ~8 B6 a$ h0 r0 \7 \6 q$ Oof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that. z( Y' S4 l' G5 ~# ]
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are" j( C$ L& X$ I2 W6 f% M
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a, B- h, V" f( T# B
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government$ H1 u" _6 K& L
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move- X: i7 [6 i: i
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
5 B. x) X/ |+ @- K- c) [5 U"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,' b c; [8 K! P$ l( t' V
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
! o- g# Q% E2 x5 }5 p* v" `8 Mstill 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
6 X: l: C9 ]2 Q @6 t& X"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make. a" I q/ |6 Y" G
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
1 ?) G2 N" `2 |5 la beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
+ N, r3 Z) f' Z( ~1 o' wparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across$ Q& T- o) s3 s! L" M4 j9 n2 o# J/ V
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
; l" n8 A8 v2 h: Uimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
' T* Z M7 M) Ddevelopment.
Hutongs
2 c8 W( A6 i8 u+ \0 {, P) ]/ tin the old days were residential area where people actually lived0 r& [, N; M; z. d4 x6 d5 S9 @
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions/ P5 Y+ e. a( G$ ^
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not& j: _- i6 }8 W$ T: R
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you( A8 m& L1 r- |5 o! v8 i$ K
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.; a% c/ |" g% n9 e: P
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date; t/ _+ m I- i' j, H( s3 M
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
' U7 I. X7 O# }4 xto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
8 ~+ U' @" V7 B% M4 P8 fsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
+ g- p0 _! \0 f* ?& B- sunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to' Y( B: C% R' A( k9 L7 a
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose," A- Y n7 H& L }/ C
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the- S. S8 C* l; |: ~4 ?1 v2 y5 k+ b
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the: Q; k7 z4 C4 s. m* X7 p0 z0 t1 q
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
( M9 [% s/ ` k/ v4 z9 Xrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong( [! P. G h- Y( F! R% I0 ]
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
8 a) _ x' Z1 d% ?6 Dpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be0 r) e- J/ L9 u/ \+ F
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
! x; |+ V* x* y+ P! |memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".1 [! F! ~7 W. @: @2 D
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
. {, y2 g+ [. ?2 ?aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially, r6 G O h% ~: @9 C1 r0 U% S' b
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
& [2 J( O& Y( r7 T& Y+ }6 `8 Kof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
+ @" y# B4 N e) e v4 l/ RHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
9 v) M, j1 g+ {. Q1 vpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they- D: o1 ?) o- ~7 d- }' E; X/ I
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
2 `" D9 |. l& h1 c# _of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before$ D& f# T/ N0 M" @) W5 r/ K
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all0 R" z: `0 l& ~) f9 F$ j
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
/ h( J* `8 Z6 h, kapartments are the way to go? No.. F* w5 W' M+ D; E- ^. ?: N) q* z8 `* Y
" [$ a$ H- Y& H5 H + ^2 k7 I6 @7 O
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the8 C& k/ K9 o# N* z' w# B
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
: k( P7 z# [. ~; m- l* k'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
, {- C; d4 n1 c) v* \no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
# j- o# g& e" j" A) Yfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
; `6 R2 T7 t% Aresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless! A0 `2 c+ y2 p2 b( U$ ^+ A
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is0 w5 c2 Y& A2 [7 X7 _$ L% b
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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