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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
& y U" ^2 {* x( J- Aarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider/ A. D$ N5 }, v& `
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"$ K. e. N4 G; N% W n: `( E
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
! v% g: |" q& }: `' x* j# {* ^According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
% V& h1 n8 | h' U3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of( G# i& z6 n6 n, a" @4 t. x6 h8 z
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
% d2 e6 I; G" j: {hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
# M$ s& T) ]' O7 Deach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
1 A! X& S/ P3 J! y2 v- Wand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is$ Z# t U" g& V0 }3 ^ p4 P
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are% s! o, q& L: }3 n. t/ Y% n
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
: @+ C5 o+ \" V, m1 Eforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I6 Z2 _' |/ ]) e. S. E
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great; ]) f9 J$ p4 U9 |9 {! a6 G r
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,6 [" E) f- y. W9 |$ x8 c" \- N
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong% ~, b8 `; }- T! }3 H ]
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment: J1 i9 j7 J% l4 p* f/ K7 x9 `) |
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that4 R' T. ?. i! E; |! G7 ?, t7 U+ a7 d
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are/ t) t7 p6 A. r9 n- ~4 }+ o5 V `
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
; g/ R: i# _: N- R. u9 gsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
+ G _* j' k6 C/ ?. \$ r; jwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move% F, p' H2 n0 N: {4 c! L/ D0 Q: J
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is; s; J3 E. c; t3 P
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,2 i& M3 z8 M" q/ r8 m; Z8 v5 w
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
# v2 J G) A8 _) P4 I" o! {+ Wstill 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
& ]7 N5 A; h- Y; g* b7 V9 X2 e"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make: a) L1 f( a4 O" d! O
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was( z% l$ \* A$ n# K
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
/ c, @; `$ V; `8 o) E5 Tparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across2 L) j7 x6 Q$ v6 p8 r& x3 W; k
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- \; `% O$ u, ]) f9 }4 B' F+ P
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
; I: ?4 ^5 G! V+ Adevelopment.
Hutongs
6 m0 V& o3 b; ` u4 U0 Min the old days were residential area where people actually lived* ?7 h7 O7 W, u. d. F
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions# V" P- C; w9 |; x* w* v
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not5 j0 n* ^5 x G K2 K( ^
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
: g' g Z; q, nwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.* i! t5 z7 @9 y* I) s% m( t* z3 P
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
/ N6 Y9 Z+ B3 f3 l$ [" ?( Y% `2 ]) ]; M2 Xto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
: m& Q" R; m1 y7 u( |to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
1 f& g, ~$ L) z. Rsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
; Z- H7 x- B1 h) E: Gunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to2 [" `: B1 p. t# p7 W4 k) _! j: F
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
`: c( @* @( V3 O+ Yhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
7 F# [9 C6 S7 F( `+ v% P, Q+ `balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
2 O- s. g6 Z/ p* `& H: E+ E" bproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
6 a6 Y9 Y$ Q: B# Prenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong3 B% ~' t x1 b' S
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how& v5 e# \/ h! w+ \7 E
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
' o" l! n p, [% [8 K. A5 D/ ltorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished0 N+ W4 k% ^- r% E$ P+ V
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
9 u. q- f: _5 L) `- M* ?4 \Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
& k' W7 o) B) X4 ualigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially2 t5 A2 ^0 e, l7 T, U- t
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image v$ W* a$ _% Y
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these( {9 M( \$ Y9 C+ r0 c8 y
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those- H, M0 G" E- a$ ~8 _
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
" `: A s2 N; j, K: R) Y7 A8 amay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some, g" L$ {3 _ b! R* k# R
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
* f/ s/ q8 p) j# S2 ~/ i: K+ P"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
7 Z7 t8 S6 q7 N# g' `4 T9 Rpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise. W( I: v( z" E
apartments are the way to go? No.
9 p' d$ b' D& M. B, F
2 T% L+ e( V5 U% k' \9 e
. m5 w; \# B. x- A, j4 H
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the. ?) I! D U F j
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
$ Y7 \& F/ P3 m% P/ {'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make; ~# D# D6 `( z. y
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
" {2 B o' F( I& T3 n) }+ X9 g) \3 tfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant* |' y9 A! x4 q4 t0 J& X7 H
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
( f/ K" s) [7 i% ]4 j1 C# xBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
: z7 }' L2 l2 P9 L1 bunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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