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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
/ _' v! I# |; |8 d) Rarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider8 Y8 M9 y7 I! b- ^
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"$ U+ W) A, _1 I) w+ w5 @
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. B5 i3 u! A+ G B$ _* Y9 `
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,& j- @1 w! x# s4 K* V+ S
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
4 _% E2 j+ N; d* K$ j( SManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within5 f4 Z/ G( V _6 _% }# W
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
0 y# o! d, C5 ^" aeach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
$ S" T% F' I' u, U) mand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
5 U: ^1 N4 ^8 Q) yharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
9 A1 |3 Q) T; B7 I: j6 Pdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
. `) q" R. D6 o, V" ]9 X+ tforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
% |$ n; _$ B' L4 fwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
7 @* u" r( k+ g" |impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
- q& I/ p2 G- L2 P! @& @: J1 Yand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
3 [( [+ _0 L. K$ c3 I5 Ehas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment0 T1 t1 X, \/ e9 A4 \; Q2 K: h1 M
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
- J: L- v+ e1 O2 l# b; }& ~; d# Zno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
9 c2 t; _) u' r" n+ `2 ^/ E. d& |only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
' T7 N$ u4 G# W8 s8 usort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
7 R( @! i* e, Q+ R0 ^- ?want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move" l& V9 R; k% N! n, L3 J
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
F* D% I' _( D0 E3 N# V"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
% [* c% \; k, w# E9 h, b2 Fthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
) g; ~6 \" t5 X) k, c% D `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
5 X& u# C( i9 d) j0 X/ P# D"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
6 O8 u( e3 G/ F* e# N5 R9 \money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
$ e2 M6 U4 g/ V4 J' K* Ha beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
# r! k( t) u) d/ I, U) u+ Iparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across) U9 o; I* o# q7 K9 o
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
7 p _" c' O; nimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for: d$ I' e8 h3 k
development.
Hutongs
0 C$ P+ C/ \* c) Q7 R; \0 |& k4 {in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
4 C0 O# t$ {9 J0 {there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
% I& \: f; P- b+ k' u7 d Pin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not& W/ @: q, S6 j7 O2 H0 k( J
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
! T. G# b" Z& m1 X# m* ^will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
3 g" k. x* ]5 e' E6 W0 fFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date( o J; m9 H) u5 @9 G. N @
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used8 b# j0 Y- ~ o6 E, i
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
3 X3 _1 L0 C4 x6 ?& Z4 q& {support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically) d3 h3 w4 _" y
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
& [9 L; P+ _. Q- U$ \live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,8 N* N' {; J+ X$ x( f j# r3 d
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the6 |5 f2 S5 h6 s& V" _' }# J- p& w/ q1 l& P
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the0 `( e, E1 k# `5 T9 w
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
% w; i1 Q/ j4 \' {$ i srenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong( S5 D/ ~' k: D2 @) U% O: w0 \4 N
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
" B0 O m1 e3 apeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be" ~, M; t/ F+ ?3 [' y( H
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
0 t/ z8 g+ l+ ?memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
' _' b' T* f5 ^ J# N; H+ `' |: c$ }Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are( _8 u |1 Y9 |. v' x
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially" U6 H; @: a) m! A
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image( D5 @0 A% {* u( F! H7 Z; o2 ^# |9 K
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
! n. i& f. t% ^! I5 W) BHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
1 K- C' w* p# l3 [6 Mpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they) J. {; J7 _, m
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
# w1 G# M1 F+ q; p. Nof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
9 R+ q d) Q1 p"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all l6 A9 p# c, Y2 j
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise1 g. D/ g' o7 y o
apartments are the way to go? No.
$ Q* u( m: T$ a3 _' p- j
+ j* g3 ^+ N* D7 r: A 4 W/ g" e4 w* m% L2 g% m
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
. i. _/ F0 s, p( Q9 P! r1 ^' gsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
; ~; q& A2 a9 i$ X! u. f/ z" i'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make# J5 ]9 E$ w- o E7 Q
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so$ X5 w% Y: \+ [
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
+ U: T9 \, M* q, `" B# m8 yresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
; W( H) k' K! C9 c: ^4 G: w+ a! \! }Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
' v4 q! F: y G( q* T' w' \0 i4 Uunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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