Beijing plans to rebuild past by razing hutongs
In a corner of old Beijing, officials want to re-create a piece of China’s dynastic past by rebuilding a square near the Drum and Bell towers in 18th-century Qing dynasty fashion.
In a corner of old Beijing, the government may soon be both destroying history and remaking it.
District officials want to re-create a piece of China’s glorious dynastic past by rebuilding a square near the Drum and Bell towers in 18th-century Qing dynasty fashion. To do it, they will demolish dozens of scuffed courtyard homes that preservationists say have themselves become a part of a cultural history that is fast disappearing as construction transforms the capital.
Because of relatively recent renovation, few of the homes can claim to be more than a few decades old. But they are in crooked alleyways known as “hutongs”, which formed around courtyard houses and date back centuries.
Along their lanes and within their mended walls, an old way of life is still visible – mahjong rooms, shared courtyards, clothes hanging to dry – against a more distant backdrop of skyscrapers.
The plan to redo the neighbourhood has raised the ire of those who see it as swapping a real and living piece of Beijing’s history with something static and fake.
