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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# h5 _* c4 F1 S6 ?
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider O. S& v& W: D4 |$ M
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
, h3 I" ]* w9 {8 i. r: r2 j) p0 Vcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
; `0 A9 h B; }' Z0 W' RAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,+ P! |. k6 _( V
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
6 [4 c" }- a, F1 F3 EManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
# @" i: ?! ~! _* ghutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
4 n, b* F* _; s7 r' X# {each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera7 `* p' H' N! m2 n# ^" J& ]
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
( b( b( B7 z8 R$ [harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are! ^8 F }) U5 {8 G9 s. T* M. ^
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and4 U* j/ i: l, x
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I6 z3 N; w5 A, W) {" |& u
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great1 G6 b* l5 @ r- u! M, d1 Z
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
, C- [' j* K8 o. |5 x- X4 fand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong4 n* d/ g! Z) F# M8 \8 m
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment7 |: D' g; A) Y% g
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
0 q {' n& b* L, Y" {1 ^no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
( A T1 p: A! a2 U9 ~8 x/ _5 Yonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
, Z( \) g+ D+ v1 r4 |2 i% xsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
" a# u0 m" ~1 ]1 r/ N, H d; mwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
2 s5 L, P$ `+ [7 O( s' F1 Tto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is; x) k! V9 F/ y$ q, O0 @
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
* y# a5 L K/ @this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
. y( f6 z9 d K, B+ C1 qstill 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
# c( ^) U& W0 Q! t* _"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
7 B6 v. U# L2 B( U, imoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
# }: R' p; E h1 e. Ia beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a7 z. b: a9 D3 m1 O
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across+ ]" p4 r- T' e2 M" @9 l" S' U4 b
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. z( {# ?& m* N. G
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
- i0 n2 H% Z2 k$ x2 b3 q5 d& r* A4 Edevelopment.
Hutongs+ m: B, g+ }7 k+ P
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
* K- u! M3 I. {% X5 uthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
$ a% K% X: V/ |2 tin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not" m8 j! i5 g& \6 ^9 x3 Q% N
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
2 A5 G, d- S$ w) Dwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
8 H" C5 [( a( b& V zFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date6 G1 M& Q7 ]& S2 F: w
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
8 W) `) Z! ?: b+ L0 c5 ^, Gto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses9 G+ V0 k8 _5 i1 b' Q2 l
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically: K4 W2 Q/ q" d) H6 y/ w `
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
; _! n3 |6 g' `; D% Clive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
' {" [8 D/ r/ [$ Lhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
" |. w2 ?) D% Q% `$ s; {! Jbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the0 _0 M( U3 t3 g* }5 S& Z0 i5 c
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be$ ]* P! J+ B _- |, \# P J J- P
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
' B, {: O8 d" \) E( NMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
# |$ C4 C. n X' m- Vpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
2 c+ H, i& i! W: V) N( j+ t1 e0 dtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
4 P! f2 P5 j% J' F4 kmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
- {- t f7 G, O0 INothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
. ^! m! x2 C% C. F, valigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
5 \% a2 o5 S8 Onon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image6 f5 i4 |4 c( Q3 Z, q4 V# P
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these/ H+ Q9 d( o7 y w
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
, x! n' _, p+ x+ E1 K% R2 e2 T8 Dpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
/ g# m9 d1 _9 ~6 l# [+ ~- d! a8 zmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some( c0 V9 R" b5 @- P$ }
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
6 P! [& I" {7 A g: `"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all; Q4 P* g6 r. p+ R; m0 H
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
2 a8 V$ J% E! \1 H3 fapartments are the way to go? No.
- G# Y1 r& b8 |# J4 w
5 Z$ S% v" G; L7 i0 w* N# z3 f
) r3 Y! G/ O+ j: M
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the% O& t4 S) D: ]: P, x/ M
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
) L O( V8 f m( F: t: D9 a'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
8 K& \ w/ f+ Tno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so9 s2 P( `+ `9 [$ t$ T
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant1 @% }/ q8 e9 q# }/ T5 A- }
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
1 K b8 p6 u% b! z$ a, oBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is9 g: t7 C& o9 y H9 K5 b1 ]
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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