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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, its2 ^' V& J& a( H7 v7 [' ~) x
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider4 s6 _ @$ D1 |: C# c! @7 X
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
. T u# V; n x* R$ Z. bcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
& K/ {" U0 v0 qAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
. o# `- \% y# a% y. ]6 j" v3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
* c+ A; t* Y6 _ fManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within- _! r& }5 H2 S. F& {& E2 [* E
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among1 H& ?$ |/ l+ |9 `2 M% Q% s6 c
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera/ k6 |5 d+ U* P# g8 c+ n
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is$ J2 R: e) A8 ]3 {7 h3 c
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
3 q: d# H4 G& p) \9 g. [descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and* u( a0 u; o0 o% V' \
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
# d) g7 J$ X* O8 d( S5 ?) e7 Wwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great, k: N, g4 v. v' c" N
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,# ^5 @9 u/ m* C9 W
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong( e1 c0 I" W- {3 {
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment) a! V9 O7 `6 v; F/ l7 |' y
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
" W4 _% Q: a5 `2 c+ d# c' k/ dno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
. e2 r" u$ m* H. k* c5 B, Wonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
+ X1 H1 ~/ T& k9 L7 Fsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government7 a9 q- S6 T$ X, t
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move5 T% ~7 Y1 @6 X( q" C; I
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
$ ~% }8 m) e; K4 m3 ["modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,7 E6 M+ c! ?/ _' N( d; _2 D
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are. m9 i7 m- T5 c
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
\; B% a. u ?3 a6 g"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
+ `* g N) \9 m p. a/ vmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was- e& w9 `" T! h8 H+ k& J
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a8 \7 [& ]# R+ [5 K6 s" q
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
: j. p0 y9 ?9 u# L8 w$ }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 cultural0 o( m* g }( T. l$ j1 M+ f
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for8 r' l+ j: H' ~6 T
development.
Hutongs; Y& ?" @4 `5 Q4 G7 S R% L1 x" _
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived# `: t a$ J. a% Q5 ^! } e
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
9 {- B& I+ s! X S; P* y0 gin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
3 E3 k6 D2 O5 _: \* E$ [$ Vhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
* w# C2 w4 ?6 t1 a2 Hwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
. T) d" s5 \9 E) s5 bFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date2 f% N5 n$ H0 {+ v% f4 L9 Z- v
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used* j: t$ N4 b- C2 m I3 ]4 S. R1 ~
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses, K2 v: @" ? r9 v& D `
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically. d S* ~! M( o7 ~* t5 m
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
- e# m ]: [+ I6 y3 _! m% flive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,( A: D' _/ M" G* f; r5 A
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
5 P+ o6 R# c; t( ^4 Abalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the. u$ E8 y/ o6 Q5 X7 }- d; ^- g3 D
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be8 \, Y6 H1 y. e3 ?$ I3 w+ B
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
0 }1 Y2 e5 V% sMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how$ }& b# v+ E0 W, x9 k
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
4 A8 D) w+ c# t r' ~torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished8 {, \+ K" R+ [' x
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
, a- R2 t8 E/ B9 p2 a8 ~9 oNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are% e9 } ^7 b- O
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
0 ?) |! y) g }8 Q+ L; I; R, K' lnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
8 B4 h( \7 y( j5 w/ w5 T$ Uof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
% k# u- m! J5 {' X: j* RHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those( C t) |; y& k) _" ]
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
& A$ \ X& G$ Smay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
% o/ C9 x. C \# b& k- w# I* M1 Kof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
) h) s- O$ {2 F! \8 b! |: g/ M& n"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
" O, {+ i1 D! Y% b( Tpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
H0 r+ N+ F' B, k, Papartments are the way to go? No.
. q5 ~5 p1 w, E/ T1 X* ~
( T( a- k S" t* j4 `
& f- r0 B0 f6 s) g! _: L# D
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the* J( S' \5 Z/ |+ g
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
0 }, W. x% a( A& p2 I# M, ]/ e'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
. d" n- N( }, X- k8 Ono money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
0 }# L& W( N$ L8 }fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
+ ^. f" S; p8 S" j# H7 ?. G5 Mresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless4 o4 F+ L- q* c- N- @/ f5 E
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is9 `: u1 H" u4 x t& w! f
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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