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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: X+ N1 C) Q0 h/ w, b( }
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
% C. h4 v+ g: q& S' L" G" B5 K2 _Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
. k* l: H, {/ b/ }* ycity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
" |5 B1 p. K8 A, ]( {5 YAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,( V/ q6 O+ y. g# N% P+ E
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of6 i6 v4 Q, |2 c! s# X, ]' N
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within4 c% R6 g) M& w+ ~1 A# @" S
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
2 F2 _! x' S! j0 ~( a' t: heach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
+ K/ e0 p7 F) X! F4 gand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is' t) v( s% I2 }6 g5 \
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are. B" O; o$ @5 J! j4 O
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and. y8 f" P8 l1 `( Z9 }& ]
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I1 I* e+ c6 q& i, N, K* `4 i
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
0 N. B/ g9 g4 Y0 ?$ \impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,1 m1 j# q; R9 d% ~4 B R
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
$ N5 G5 q( @3 hhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment' H; N* `# T0 ]8 f
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
5 V& {" M5 D5 _4 j% M; m. _' E' ono hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
% Y, w( i& l" I: ^. p/ Ionly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
5 j$ E- u2 w/ b6 Z) M& @6 L# n5 Gsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government! w) ^; e. x& ~: f2 u1 i; D
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
5 z9 P4 g" J+ i s. l& Z0 ^. K' sto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
2 [ w* L ]2 w' h) N5 j" B"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
. [- { T1 j6 lthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
& d' p$ D! Y8 { ystill 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! a! O/ C3 `+ c6 z
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make: o, L8 ]6 F. `# ], g+ D2 K5 r
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was8 Z- s) }* z0 q( R2 F
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
2 }" U! }& i+ B) o1 Cparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
% @* U4 W, S% z! a, L5 M: lthe 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
' C& h: D- u3 {/ m2 Q5 oimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for0 C0 m' P" u7 s' @) o
development.
Hutongs5 g6 n& m/ \. t
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
8 q& ? L' m( g- Q, ? I6 \there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
6 }% V# |: I8 `( N/ i6 win hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not" y, N4 V0 i# n7 B) m* Q- x
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you5 N3 ?" g4 K! Y( E4 t' c- ~
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
$ {- _( ^. s. |+ ^1 P, H* bFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
5 I# @* h7 K* J' H: |to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used+ v! r* _, u1 p& u7 L& J A
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
5 q2 j1 r: S8 M% R) M% usupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
( ]0 G5 k4 K D# B3 Junfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to: k6 X+ _& M. q
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,6 }# I: @% k0 P2 D2 Q$ x
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
! B+ w8 z( S+ P2 q: ]$ zbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the6 e( X7 G W/ q( Z# p
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
- G! [% V! U9 h% orenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong" _9 G6 s( `! x0 [
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how3 ]! c8 @* I8 ^$ F
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
) u# t t9 g$ ktorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
7 g- v) s, d4 Y) d# x0 t* Mmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".9 @: J4 a/ N. C S- C
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
4 U* Q7 w j, W; x# y M. Faligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
! k, |9 f( U% d Bnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image9 M; @' @% l* k' P; A
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these) v0 E8 r) M9 {1 ^4 U0 n. c& a v
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those# J) e5 X3 d6 g9 m; z( p
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
1 @6 t: q; z( U2 q' y3 xmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
' w( |; L# g1 h3 c3 F6 O! ^of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
+ G+ J; \/ I7 z9 P. x2 h" P"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
8 M& d* W7 B" H# T" x, Ipeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise3 l/ |8 ]% l3 A; X; a: A0 H
apartments are the way to go? No.4 l" w" I @6 w9 g# n: @
0 F0 c( X3 m, c: K7 c4 } ! x9 A, ~3 n8 A
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
1 }8 d2 |% G0 W7 Y1 asituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this4 B- _7 e9 Q7 \' ]) q: z% u
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
& [, q! w. X. A9 X3 d+ _% ~" wno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
- U9 b* A2 `# m8 c( n+ @/ Pfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
- G4 l$ C! d) A1 V9 rresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
$ D6 v# c5 s* MBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
: D; j- p' |; ? Q5 {) [# `, nunlikely to happen too. Sad!
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