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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
: S" b- m! X# E* Tarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider$ M. u! j; L8 b& B+ Z2 B' i, N+ O
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
0 i% |0 p6 b8 T! i7 @6 K" Ecity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
( i8 s5 \! m8 l0 I$ PAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,9 D# T, _0 c8 d. `8 p
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of) I" ~/ ]4 A" _9 }+ k
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
# Q: T) Y( ?4 F3 C. t* ~( Vhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among @6 e5 m0 T' ^ }0 i
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera- z S3 {+ f7 Y. K' @6 A
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
5 |: C* g# z/ Kharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
* A: X% ?# V3 l- N1 l/ Ddescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
* u/ m" g) Z7 j- t% S) gforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I! h' q' t: Z! Q- t, q
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
: l1 \* I; w& B+ M6 ?6 p, cimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
+ X. c$ i9 S$ c2 V5 |and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
8 ]0 N+ [0 I" Jhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
: r$ X, V0 \$ R8 T, Lof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that7 Z6 o: y. r; _4 _
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
& @8 [- H( h3 z5 k' Jonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a: i9 J: n0 ~; b6 C* Q2 o% k
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
) M: G9 s( @$ twant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move) @' {7 k$ s6 i6 H
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
+ G: t% g, _. f" x% A"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
* ]6 ?8 V- P( w6 l; Othis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are5 I' F) s; i1 Y% 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 G/ O, w% g: a1 M8 ]1 N
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
6 a5 @, l" @- B. [money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was6 M- T: G& t, U( E$ k8 F5 _
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
5 s6 k& ~9 I4 L4 y/ ~; h$ |5 eparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across+ i/ L) x( K4 S
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
" j4 i( r% n+ @& n. Cimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for5 {& F0 P- a+ H, U6 v
development.
Hutongs* M3 h! \+ E6 B. o1 i3 L1 ]
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived: \1 k6 o6 v1 S: m* @) R" z
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
2 o7 S: D$ h" h2 W1 }in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not V# M7 s1 s- s% E& P
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you7 \0 S3 p" E: S* `: {2 S0 `& W% F" _( g
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
) f3 @' k* i' y$ UFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date4 [2 G- L9 `# e% A
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used; ]# y/ O8 o! y) d3 V
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
9 V+ C/ G9 i. }) U0 ~- S+ Isupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
3 t& S" l4 U& runfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to; F+ H& s: O- i4 R: S% o5 }* H
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
& m# I" F5 |8 Ehutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
8 K4 x: D! T7 {balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the& l' x. B' D& I! ^! O$ L& j
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
( J+ r. g/ {0 w7 {renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
9 |/ O! K: L: gMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
3 {6 C! {1 Q0 d5 S2 apeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be0 J: ?0 U% {% {! A
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished/ e% C/ }( L4 D4 k% m
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".9 u) [$ {4 U* g
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
) {; d- @, i8 _5 b9 ]aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
$ O5 l9 T# Z% F# gnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
+ J) R! H6 h. E* A- Jof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
+ e' f4 x; l* h& o4 w( U5 a5 OHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
( C" v5 ]2 J, @4 `: @3 Ypeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
K2 c, |& Y' v4 j. ~; s5 Vmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some' P) a7 J4 ~( f N
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before2 j* s: b# L- }& D& S$ I+ e
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all1 p: v7 z/ J2 p! {" ^7 L! @
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
. w- [' S% q! t7 J n( p% `+ U2 K; z+ Fapartments are the way to go? No.
K3 E4 j2 e: N3 d3 }( w7 A 9 }5 q" @ t# d3 m3 C
1 ?" J" d1 `% n
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the. ]1 |, f- I3 G. \* e" y1 u4 u1 o! B
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this) I, f: F7 x0 k: J K( B1 m! K
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
. }- j# J9 Y' P* h8 k& u. fno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so" b$ l" _- z8 s5 H( D
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant5 m3 x2 L( p6 i1 c
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
; R! n/ Z( Z( Q7 I9 y; E8 `Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
/ G h1 u1 |$ J" b8 yunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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