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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
6 F/ n; o. Y! g2 l/ _# Iarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
9 t w! R5 K6 \. J. i" fBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
3 m1 v! ^, G' T* ncity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
& q, f2 Y$ b/ O3 b% U/ W! DAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
: q/ x: w8 N4 i% c0 k3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of$ A- d! E) y! v+ q6 l: ^9 w# N5 \( U
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
1 d; H+ G: O" `6 shutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
' r) U' U; ^# w' Y, W1 z" j! ]1 z# }; heach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera j4 L S7 |( @9 `
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
; r' k& `% ~, Q1 |4 Tharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
* U- X) }6 G+ wdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
- L C: w" c! w+ B: mforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I8 G0 q' g+ B1 w
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great9 y; B% e; t- a
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,: \% k6 L* s# @ n1 o) B# x7 R4 _
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong/ N. U" e+ K# M
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment3 N9 g. J' \5 p% Q" y- i
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that* d0 \8 e4 \5 e
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
/ J7 s/ g! Y4 Q# G# |. b( {/ Gonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
! u) C3 L4 r% W+ d% H* n8 j/ }sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government: q6 Z# |' Y( Q& K7 ~$ O
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move O4 v" [6 q4 t [
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is9 K, b \) z6 {6 t+ R$ b) d
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,( |4 K. j/ x9 S& x! b% ]8 J7 x
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
* q$ X+ _. c, n) O1 o# x9 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
2 I4 K5 c* m* ^" A( }4 e"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make9 K. }: a M6 Y8 q4 |3 _
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was4 a* E' w, b* Y7 c; K* H
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
, l& I$ v) f0 Cparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
) V+ u: H M2 d! ~$ ~* Q$ wthe 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. {/ K6 u" M) T1 l
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for! ?" M- P8 F8 M4 p% @4 M
development.
Hutongs9 p1 f6 R- R$ s: V& r
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived% a8 K7 i& d6 p. f% H0 t
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
# Q9 u# \2 T. g5 `" r- }in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
" U4 G" A/ `$ `9 V* D+ ~6 dhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
& a0 g$ ]- r; Y9 f" Y- Uwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.7 ~% c4 ?$ Z$ A' B. u& i
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date# ?/ `: Y! h6 s7 R( r
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
: Q9 q5 _0 \( i2 V* Hto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
! y5 e9 a1 y6 g& a4 ?support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically" D: a9 A: n7 L8 S% `& m
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
6 ~4 b1 l% l% \* z- @* L dlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
4 ~8 c% P! E0 O- S9 Qhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the' f. C1 t) E+ U& w2 W
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the& D+ L' C; U6 b, w1 d W% T$ m
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be9 _+ h+ i6 C G* y
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
- r* n/ ^+ \/ QMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how7 M7 n. Q4 X5 O8 ^
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be) m; V2 Z. A& D6 e+ d8 A5 s$ d1 H9 q
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
0 W0 t6 e6 \' r8 }2 X; A% d+ A) Wmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
7 j$ h$ A) E4 n: T9 ^% D$ E/ {/ J' GNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are9 ^8 i$ f g) Z. ~# E, y
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially+ S; o% q5 J1 i& r# Q: p: C
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image& {4 P- q% U' T& y# I" f- i: z
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
3 Q* J3 k$ G N$ k6 X O3 E! EHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those: @% @6 E8 O! {: t
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
4 @1 C; n; Q- U! umay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some% |, b) o d: L! ^' U: D
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
0 G, i7 }, N& g; E"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
" g n& V9 C' P. p: jpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise7 i1 d" y$ N0 v
apartments are the way to go? No.
: g- H2 ^1 O; P( L# ? + ?; v( b/ N0 J4 Q* }9 T" U# W
9 c/ q4 L9 \; Z8 I
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
' a( G+ ]7 \/ H* z+ \& P. u+ hsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this( d+ E# q. K7 h3 K1 X
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make2 ]. I% i! C+ t5 {
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
* o6 P' C( B+ S# C8 qfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
9 ^. b' W$ p Nresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
. w, j7 [% x1 H+ i2 VBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is) x" b9 l; {1 O1 v0 J0 T
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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