I lived in Beijing from 1992 to 1995. My experiences are similar to Mr. Meyer. I can say that the photos bring back some strong memories.

I hope Michael will mention the extraordinary film “Shower” which addresses the displacement of a neighborhood in which an older man runs a bath house with his son. One of my all time favorite films ever.

It’s not just Beijing…the Chinese have also razed old Lhasa, the ancient traditional Tibetan homes around the Barkor and in other parts of the capital. I daresay they’ve done the same in many other cities in China as well. General Philistinism all round, basically.

I have visited Beijing many times. But I felt that it would be an invasion of privacy to tour the hutongs, though I did by accident walking near my hotel one time. What is the attitude of residents to foriegn tourists looking at life in the hutongs?

Thank you,

Jim

Great that you’ve used that flickr slide show. Excellent idea, well done.

This is an interesting topic, particularly during a period when China is experiencing the most drastic change in her 5000+ years history. It is also furiously debated among Chinese citizens. Not just in Beijing, but virtually in all the Chinese cities/towns with the extraordinary civilization and history. While it is very sad to see the old Hutong has been wiped out, it is also true that the standard of living has been dramatically improved by moving people from Hutong to more modern buildings.

I have been living in Beijing for 8 years (1996 to 2004). Many classmates of mine are local Beijing residents. Most of them have bought the apartments in the past few years. Virtually none of them choose to live in Hutong, simply because living there for the young generation is not fun.

In order to develop, Beijing has no choice but wiping out numerous shabby Hutongs. In order to keep all the Hutong in the spot, the development of Beijing will undoubtedly be hindered. The Beijing (or most of China’s cities)’s master planners need to come up with a more balanced and innovative approach.

After listening to the program and viewing the photos I conclude that the change will definitely make life better for residents of the hutongs. As a New Yorker and U.S. citizen, however, I know how valuable it is to preserve at least a remnant of the old neighborhoods and customs for future generations to experience and learn from. Are there plans for some historic preservation in this process?

We just returned from Beijing and stayed in a hostel located along a hutong. What we saw was a gentrification of the hutongs. Many of the old buildings were being torn down and replaced with new buildings. These new buildings were very palatial and bore little resemblance to what they were replacing.

I find it ironic that Michael Meyer is lamenting the Westernization of Beijing…especially the Hutong area. When, as an American (native Minnesotan,) he inserted himself into this authentic, historic culture creating another manifestation of the phenomenon he is criticizing or at very least documenting. I take issue with an American, male writer coming in to “preserve” the Hutong experience by turning it into a book for which he will collect more money than all of his Hutong neighbors combined will accrue in 3 generations. I commend anyone who will volunteer for the Peace Corps. Thank you, Mr. Meyer. I wish you’d have resisted the urge to make these unique Beijing citizens your “project.”

Sorry I think this radio show said a westerner spoke to someone from China and said, “You do not need to make the same mistakes America has” and the response from the person from China was,” It’s our right to!” If China makes the same industrial and ecological mistakes America has then they will be on a much larger scale and might wipe out their own country. I hope that one day China will listen to their older history more and learn copying American mass consumption might not be a good idea.

I was born in Beijing, lived there for more than 20 years before I came to the States. I’d love to test Mr. Michael MeyeuTong see if he knows what “HuTong Chuanzi” means in Chinese. I sincerely doubt he understands the true meaning behind it.

Several points here, which I firmly believe represented most of “authentic” Pekingnese:
1) Hutong preservation is necessary, but in general since they are no longer suitable for modern living style, they should give space to typical apartment buildings. Ask New York mayor what he can do to accomodate 13 milliton-plus people in a city.
2) Ironically, if you are rich enough and can afford to buy a “Si-He-Yuan”, which is the name we call houses in the Hutong neighbourhood, it’s excellent life!