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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
$ \8 r9 a6 Y9 Garchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider+ F3 L- z$ D# U9 g' I+ F
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
; c1 F6 M; K D4 P4 |. A. J0 ecity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
5 |' N! j3 `& F! G/ h. {& gAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,6 F* {# p9 _) x, G6 z
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
, y7 Z. U$ B+ kManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
) M% I/ h! ~ S1 r2 c- j: j* khutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
, l0 D' L9 B. ?, P* _: `each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
+ w) s% e+ L0 land Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is& N/ _4 i. x, n; P) g9 m
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are- C, p |6 G, k* m4 U
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and3 p2 B8 j1 ?3 F/ z; ]+ O
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I6 S: L" O1 U# D8 G. B
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great4 \: e9 a6 s) \" n! @2 w+ W
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,8 i7 G0 O' a. Z5 Q
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong; N9 G4 [* y* u5 ^( S6 y% J9 h
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
8 S* H6 H& D% n0 C" }; Cof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that; q$ _( Q7 t( a# i/ ^- {* k
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are, u. M* Z+ m F9 ~) k0 m: |& x5 V
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a f! f* h H2 R! T
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
6 ^2 d$ E# `- F f$ K" J) a4 Hwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move% n1 I3 _& W8 s* J. x6 X7 D) N
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is5 T. h) g6 f3 i
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
2 w- b3 V9 Z, z' a, T6 P: J! fthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
5 z# f5 C1 u! N) B. j& p) s0 s0 Pstill 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: M" p4 @( B5 ^# S4 b3 |
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
7 V; h- L1 {3 p8 y1 ~% {7 fmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was5 r/ }! Y- S) P+ H% [2 Q# s
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
4 M/ _$ _ A' Y/ q6 {! t/ ]. f: P" `; Rparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
- E- u, o) X- K3 l# mthe 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
1 G. G0 T( c* l7 a _8 [- N/ J* Jimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
2 Y( K' `& r, K( h6 |development.
Hutongs3 l* t' X# V" V/ K/ b! J" R
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
6 X' x; U+ v. l* x: U# A. {3 ythere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions6 ]! o. q0 m3 s+ w/ F1 Z
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not" r" x/ i) V# o9 U/ ]1 y2 f
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you* {. P$ O0 @8 r) E% C
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
& e- G0 H0 E1 rFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
2 V3 C2 h d4 u5 D7 Y7 V) Ato support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used1 B1 D2 o: I; S2 }8 B1 ^
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
) p" A# @$ a3 P& U6 psupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically# M6 X3 D4 R5 b8 A3 c! I4 W
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
. \) m6 ^) \- C- i2 ^live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,. n* ]/ y% M. E
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the. b( L% ~! M1 T2 Q4 z& q/ c
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the. ]5 ?$ g3 ^% P. H" x: _) y3 E
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be) y& L$ j# P$ X3 M* z
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong* P& L+ f# `/ J: {6 W7 ]. C* y; g) N
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
! m3 B: ]. O" H* ipeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
3 j- H) ~8 m, H: L$ N8 n$ z$ btorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished, U+ [4 S, c. I# n3 H
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".# \+ ?5 J! a* ^: _1 @6 o" h# ?7 v
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
0 m3 Z% y* Y/ |$ A0 D8 ]4 w8 c) M$ xaligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially& H$ A: {; H+ X X# ]
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image* a" v: u; ?0 b& ^5 f7 B
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
% K3 V! U$ h! Y6 X$ f S! sHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those$ v* P8 [) Y& V( ~- Q
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
' f* D# ^) A8 ^- |4 amay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some1 S+ k9 j! N$ d( y7 [" @ |
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
. f9 \$ V& r% I"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
8 y5 c3 c7 ^9 _, P4 j) Y% c7 Tpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
3 b9 b2 Z4 C- \; japartments are the way to go? No.
/ I/ \% ]) h0 c) q# W 6 K; n- ?9 l( ^# N6 i6 p( ^
8 q: @ Z6 X# X8 L
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the. r2 e, U# {6 P; p: _8 x9 U
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
1 E# h! l9 O* r) `$ G; Y'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
4 }" u9 Y) _! U& ^# J; I2 rno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so$ I& E u% v2 Y5 W- ~& O
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant) U7 ?9 X+ u3 M9 C
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
5 G2 Z8 O5 ]' UBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is; V8 R% A% C3 f% F0 t
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
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