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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& e# [4 Z) G8 M! b+ W; E
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
- P( E w- N6 b! _+ v2 |- z- w. fBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
- K# R, g" R: q8 Lcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.( d" |! p1 t, L& g2 z. q
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,( Q, R5 d# X, A( D' s) V8 U7 `
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of* t I- u. {$ v, M+ l# a+ r
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within# _7 v2 C: j& E: [3 l) r+ T. y1 P, D3 L+ ]
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
- G* U0 ^+ Q, F3 g3 Ieach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera; J( A- n, {, S) @7 E
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is+ l1 L6 N% Q5 x3 Q
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are+ n* i5 k/ `9 f; u, {2 G& r( l: I# l
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and% i5 ^' s- }. w: t1 x. Q
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I3 h8 }3 T% f" C2 _% ~1 N4 n$ r9 z
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
8 y I! {/ f- s# N1 g4 Q+ _impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
& Q7 @9 n+ g5 G9 S: d& Fand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong5 @! ]8 P8 e w# J
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
: w q/ O0 R+ A1 r( gof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that& y4 ~7 ?! ]8 Q. c5 {8 y& O
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are( l5 H! e |9 K7 }5 I
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a/ { b! _# X3 ?( C+ y
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
2 ~8 p0 [ \# b, y/ B1 T# f; w' rwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move0 h) t' {+ i8 s8 b
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
8 K% [- f( F2 F' m; U"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
* b8 b" ]; u: L( B3 |this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are( F' Y& \5 p( v. @5 t `" s+ t
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
4 f3 ]( M3 h* T3 q& f"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make b4 J. B! b. S+ a& e
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
; ]0 H, f# |# L/ f3 Ja beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
% w9 S8 D$ _0 _5 v5 x/ |parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across% b/ I5 J* E6 I& x" U- y: e
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
+ y! ^. i( m- Y( I7 O" L/ Pimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
2 A, I7 [1 D7 {: A0 |. u" j4 xdevelopment.
Hutongs
2 u( c/ l' x6 oin the old days were residential area where people actually lived: c" V2 i% J9 i$ p
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
0 |" E* t% n7 v" [, {. _in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
4 v7 n9 P( X: r5 H; Nhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you; k6 M3 O1 y9 Q5 q; y
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
9 P+ Y. t; l4 k V' iFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date( P0 z* R0 b9 u$ b
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used" n. u" a/ N5 C" Y# k2 `
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
+ |1 L& G2 F, N Y1 \; s! vsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
5 T# c1 E8 d1 h9 e( i" X4 ^unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to; C$ e- s& P+ x$ F9 C. o( r
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,7 ~& o2 { e9 n3 t& W- [1 v. d0 b7 x; _
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
4 b" v3 L; x& O$ g2 G a/ Wbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
1 P u, N3 A5 ^$ G8 nproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
- a5 g$ n! S: F2 r/ S5 E1 srenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
$ a4 ^ L- ?) n% pMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how, q( J, e/ J7 X3 n1 v
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
' T' M- O: l" g+ B B; H8 storn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished9 A& X" v w3 s3 k' E
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".; B0 z4 Z3 i) x7 _0 g8 t
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
1 \: y8 V( u" b+ }8 ^aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
3 O& C3 E$ M* G* Unon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image5 B8 s! V; R$ m6 I: Q5 }4 S2 V! {
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
1 G2 q( z! N0 [Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those: O# v- f6 ]: O7 y3 d: X, [
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they$ y2 k& t$ w' U" k
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
( W9 y, n$ y6 d- X! nof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before1 G* [7 N, `5 c
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all( ]# n9 L/ E! ~. e. ?$ [
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise3 L/ t, n+ g/ d5 {$ f
apartments are the way to go? No.
0 s5 j7 k% z# z t( \: X1 j , x9 t+ j6 w5 [+ I
1 ^' \3 X5 z! f5 c7 t4 V1 n* w
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
9 L( R, r+ C O. N5 rsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this0 u5 A$ J; {% u6 r4 z
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
, c5 ~. N- R" L. p0 g2 o* Uno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so) I- {& ]. b1 \ f# k+ \+ m2 ?1 }
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
7 \. |* Z' a+ {+ I' `, S2 ?; Y$ q/ ?resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless; T8 ~' T" [0 J. O% z$ z5 F
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
2 d4 B* j6 |! Z1 z0 Q/ k" kunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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