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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
1 y' t, M$ l; W. ?architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider5 @& M9 F7 z1 c1 K8 R7 k) N2 L
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
7 p ~+ ?$ i, ]$ B' q$ p# s" v5 F% mcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.: g4 A+ i* P+ `5 m6 {. s6 v. z
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
& K1 \. R1 Y0 y; r5 x5 W: k9 I3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
, e9 _8 r$ a7 L+ v: ?Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
* j, L7 l7 q5 K q+ ]- h3 Thutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among! U- y" q( m3 f3 V3 c* r
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
# `: T8 a2 [, y7 y) M' _- [- _2 I2 uand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is& _* o% d, }. P5 ?
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
0 V {1 B2 X, y+ B9 |descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and: l* l z7 F: l% y$ V
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
% w# k1 ~0 V. }' J0 _; p* @was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great$ @6 P/ o9 ? B1 |0 l
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,, O! p! ^1 u6 A0 w8 y0 I5 |
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong; T1 z: P0 @ z' }6 f
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
+ {$ c( `' w) V1 n! x5 Yof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that% c3 M, T& q3 x( K5 P; }( r# ]1 _
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
( w7 m& [- U: |0 E: Jonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
# M0 o! k4 P8 s4 P! h9 n. jsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government r9 V1 p( z, x: ?8 y. s/ a$ }; [
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move3 w( ]( G" e; q- A0 V
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is) L" l. N# [: G2 F! o6 K9 O+ E/ d
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
) Y F/ T, z! w/ z5 N) e7 xthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are$ _2 h; m; _! u
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
6 p. \2 W) @* q% a% }"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make% p- k- }% e" |1 ?0 ^( w2 O5 X, a
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
- ?2 O$ x# s3 _ A! s: @' oa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
5 U9 o V+ b, g+ ~. {parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
' u% \# U" @) [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% P% t' ~. L) n& E
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for$ g: K# P( P# N2 f2 \
development.
Hutongs
0 X( i: f9 @; ~9 ^( g. u4 qin the old days were residential area where people actually lived$ d, N1 J8 [0 s# K+ V
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions$ P5 c. C0 [7 y" X0 F
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not9 W- [( b. [' E
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
0 U% z& N: |' s8 K R9 Z/ \will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.0 b% ~# u# C+ m2 t6 j
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
+ v5 ]8 Y: r% V3 i2 ato support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used+ ^( a+ v! y0 K1 z( A% t- C7 y
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
( }1 [7 Z& g8 _( I& R' L% bsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
5 z" }% ^ y$ M+ Wunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to/ a9 n$ g6 n y' U- d" v. m
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
4 @0 H: a& W# m- ghutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
5 H: \$ A$ k+ m5 s/ a$ m: @9 G3 Mbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
2 D4 n+ v% m0 q& ?6 fproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
' s) d4 v( e" N( B8 _+ K2 Arenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong9 L, `/ N& a8 M6 ^; D+ ]
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how4 J5 m$ E6 ~9 t. n3 g$ E
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be/ Y9 y5 c$ Z3 F+ s0 C
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
+ R Q+ V/ V e' hmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".1 ]' t6 h, z6 R# o! z
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
7 x7 F; q& D& P7 ~5 Saligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially1 R# o, U7 P# c* z. e+ j
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
! Y, n% v& W# \9 D/ mof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these# h) ?2 _ ` R- q
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those/ L8 Y& Z0 Y( h7 m' w* H
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they D+ Q. D) o$ R( K5 o5 d' `1 q
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
7 L# }2 R% s" Y" F! Iof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
6 W6 Y/ |: o2 F; a3 b' n"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all0 [! `% r# d$ N! h+ _. i
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise$ z' V! Q1 O) S* L" k
apartments are the way to go? No.; [$ c% P3 ?& K
- Y/ T8 y* B: p' Q
5 @. l' z; \8 T6 @8 H$ B9 b
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
/ `- k5 u2 W) f% n% @" Y/ hsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
0 z5 ^8 C( j: f4 @1 F'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make ~/ v* H& d0 _, P# _
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
/ s5 M. Z# I( D6 O4 K Nfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant: `- @+ W. {2 l1 d/ C
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless% p$ G5 B; n2 c. t% Q; W/ c
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is- G$ O) k# N5 |8 ~
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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