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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* K5 L2 y7 _ r6 R
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider* W2 s @3 p( Q" P' p; [
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
5 K) E4 @ R0 p. l6 N3 ?6 ecity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
6 a9 u, v( m7 R- u9 o7 [According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
% _. P+ p2 g; T- n+ s P8 _. l3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
2 x; v( Z! y" j0 a4 S: SManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
6 D. b6 G! {4 @2 s8 lhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among! |: X3 d0 x9 D8 x& v# h
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera$ i/ f8 }4 q6 j8 q0 N9 L4 f
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
% ]4 e1 X4 v6 x, C/ M3 N3 J0 U; Rharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
( U* @; w8 U$ p! ]+ tdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and% ?/ H: @% n5 _0 ]
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I7 s: C% h/ M1 b
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
# T* e$ ^; t X9 w" Rimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
2 Q9 Z G& x, a: sand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong: |/ |6 p2 f) U! A$ Z
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
0 i2 S) j9 o# K8 Vof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
$ ?9 ]: J* r, Y# `5 G/ V; {no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
+ [3 r3 z6 d; R1 d' p- Monly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
# W% E2 q7 K# w1 ?4 tsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government( Z) a0 [2 V) c/ _! }$ ?) k
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move- @- {: {4 Q5 [% G+ x
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
% ^1 l [4 H S% u) F/ |"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
+ V8 k" `* D7 Z0 tthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
1 `+ q4 [: C4 Y8 |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 to2 |$ i4 n3 T. ]% j2 @
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
5 r/ @& ?- W+ Y; s/ kmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was1 p! l: [2 ~5 W
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
9 P; M8 z# O5 Sparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
q3 B E- s" T& w) Ithe 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 q F: E# d+ ]# K' `importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for. q" p6 a/ d, [! s
development.
Hutongs4 [* v+ d1 d4 Y
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
- [) w4 x4 h* w8 c* T4 W1 O7 w# v% hthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions6 @0 \9 B5 Z2 v& L, l
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not1 ?6 D. z/ \0 Q2 A& j
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you7 r0 P; c) S/ `/ c0 n/ }
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs., Z* h n/ }- t
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date2 i+ x& R# {& G9 ~1 V5 I1 T
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used3 ~0 \2 A% \$ ]* L; y0 b6 X$ S5 C
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses8 v% B9 Z0 @6 _
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
) m4 }; G+ ^( t/ B; tunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
, z! c% K4 s9 _5 s) M9 V* Alive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
* j0 Z# z1 q) C, N# [! Nhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the7 y0 R' f8 ?' F4 I8 H2 ]
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
|* ^( j( F8 S0 t$ \project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
+ v$ E, m( b0 q% Orenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
' y& n/ m- ^0 T; C. oMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
! R3 k5 {) H3 |. W# H+ [9 W4 Cpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be; N7 w$ B2 K* C' V6 f0 X+ i5 z9 a
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished% O6 ?0 E4 {# A* X
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
4 Z& Y: ^7 c& D. W' n7 ?9 xNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are5 c* }% m- L8 P! b Q% _2 h
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
/ J' Q8 [9 f5 Z3 e# Y. P' wnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image* Y, t6 ~' q7 A/ M1 h
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these/ O/ z5 k, }6 D. w4 k* }
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those" T) ]; ]& T5 ]
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
1 O' p; `% h2 q: g% T0 B" Mmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some/ `4 P, e$ {, t- }
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
9 \5 B: L+ I* Q, ^3 Q- f"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all; V- _5 x" G; F5 B3 x, _
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise$ A0 K0 ~% n* {( }# O
apartments are the way to go? No.8 o7 ^% F5 u* R6 N, X. N F3 S8 [
i1 Z1 I) D0 ]" `4 T- v) C
! n1 K, T/ [( I, W' z
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
/ x2 X5 t, n) \7 b5 ]% usituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
& @; w, p, i& Z2 y'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make( b; K& x# L. M2 S, m2 f' ?7 s* W! j
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so( l. n! Q5 J( \1 M2 H e& B
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant" T# j6 |: v2 I
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
1 d+ E" \0 S* Q( P6 r& p6 U5 t& F) _Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
2 x6 ], A$ A% U3 M( l; Yunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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