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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
2 z8 q4 [5 u" j5 ~# H% P7 y( Earchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider5 W0 u$ m* ? ]' d& G: ? ]" M+ @
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
, W) W1 p8 ^: E/ \: y. z* ^& g. w+ M) bcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.# j/ v) J" F, c* W2 x7 }- \) m& N
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,) M6 D8 b, S# a
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of# i6 e, O/ Q3 V# ], r. L2 N+ {
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within9 _; m% P" n" ?. O1 t' E) R% U
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among& h. B& j" O' U; O
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera, k }# b9 q l$ ?. Q
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is; Y6 F" U+ N; D" W/ t# t% X
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are9 T' Y0 F7 o- n' H& T" Z! ^9 S/ e2 `! D
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
\. g# P. V5 b, X- t7 Yforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
6 K. I9 @, L' l: K3 pwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great6 m& v N+ j& I" e3 x2 H' m, E* B
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,) C% u2 B( l7 I( M* i
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
/ p. ]! @0 U$ F- P8 t; T, W; G4 k6 nhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment3 u& k6 f: L. U7 b; a
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
$ w/ [* t& z3 e" `no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are6 i2 \) _; {( I& A+ d) N# W/ V
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
- K, V9 X% ^4 Qsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
$ o% P. D6 H2 o, P. Fwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move: X& E T" e; w Y2 \" h: f
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is6 y0 P7 m$ `/ r$ U
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
6 I; s9 t& s1 @3 q8 C3 i) B$ O* Nthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are7 o3 ?, G# L1 T# `( t" r- o
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
, r! g, g8 G# X u"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
: q' d- g* c* v, \5 F1 B5 @money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
9 P# K% ^; n6 z& l1 ia beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a u, F- O$ I/ s J
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across9 P7 o8 @& F! f* `$ D
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
& r. `( u1 C8 _3 q: v) iimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for- q9 L' c. _8 @% d& V2 C9 s: e
development.
Hutongs
; l( Q: I- [. cin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
& C4 I8 a, I3 c E- u1 G v3 Mthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions# Q9 G: Y: ^* J) f
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
h# n F" a) j% Whave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
" N# {+ k: d f' N6 T0 gwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
6 E. O, a, Z# ^( G% E) T TFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
7 E: u0 B; e% k6 Wto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
+ M5 A0 ?! W. {+ W( `/ V# H( d9 Fto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
4 S5 v5 p! t( a5 t7 }: z" i, jsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically' |8 I3 s; J# F1 a
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
$ F/ M, @ i5 l& |% P, alive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,2 G% u: ~5 H; `* Q S1 @7 r; |
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
4 I) _" }& a; R2 x! o8 ^balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the% Y6 f' l" D; ?# {7 g
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
& J* k+ ^% f9 T9 I6 t# h" n+ zrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong# P7 z3 G9 V' v
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how. S% g6 w! u6 A, K! o
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be" ], I4 H" G) I' ~7 ?) C
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
6 q* u& n G$ k1 Tmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". D9 `" j. [4 F; k0 P; O. _
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
/ z% c& k# e4 t8 b& raligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially. d0 c2 C2 d) Z) N
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image5 _0 }6 {1 J) |" @+ x- y! U
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
5 v& O0 L' J- b# sHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
, C# }6 Y0 J8 W+ k& g5 @4 [9 ^people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
" t, N! k) z9 H5 E. Ymay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
% V* ^/ Q1 i! l j. ^* Dof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before; Y; p8 ]$ l/ l& b3 v5 ?
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all. h% w5 w9 v# P* u4 Z4 V
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise6 ^& Q7 v7 P! J/ I2 V- \
apartments are the way to go? No.
) I8 {5 A/ Q5 I$ X& H% U9 W
$ I' q! l t- Q! Q4 X# N; r # n% M5 B9 l' X* q. Y/ u$ r3 q
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
' b- N0 I/ w. L+ Y* Csituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
6 a/ d& E2 A* R2 ^2 \'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
& E; V: Y$ s+ {8 @) kno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so( P9 F' {' G" M
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant! E' @3 F, s$ b7 i8 @
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
0 V5 ?* c M" f7 ?" ?Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is7 B! Y5 Q! t: I7 K! R
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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