Beijing's Hutongs
 |
| From Beijing, China |
While waiting for my connecting flight in San Francisco I picked up a book called 'American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China' and it chronicled a student from the midwest that dropped out of Princeton to study kungfu with Shaolin monks. My trip to China was not nearly as ambitious.
The first thing that struck me in Beijing was the scale of construction. High rises being built at a rate unfamiliar to me. I've lived in big cities and have never observed this rate of development before. It is astonishing. Piles of rubble and debris - followed by high rise after high rise and non stop construction.
Hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences in China. Many neighborhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighborhoods. I soon learned that demolished hutong neighborhoods are what many of those piles of rubble are. I made sure to spend a good amount of time in and around the ones I encountered. I wanted to get a sense of this disappearing way of life. The narrow alleys of the hutongs are best suited for rickshaws, bicycles, and pedestrians. Many date earlier than Qing dynasty and are a hodgepodge of traditional homes, shrines, markets, courtyards, and small businesses all huddled together in close proximity; Think of them as old Chinese neighborhoods. You'll be greeted by sounds of roosters, people chattering at a market, and bicycles & rickshaws rattling along the narrow streets. This is definitely a sharp contrast to modern life in China and I'm glad I had a chance to experience it.
Kublai Khan's Beihai park was a hidden gem in Beijing. Strolling in a Chinese garden is a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. The imperial garden in the Forbidden City was another refreshingly quiet and intimate contrast to the grandeur of the other palace buildings and bustling Beijing. Seeing Tiananmen Square was a thrill and completed a story I first heard in 1989; Maybe it was the unrest in Tibet last week or the way news broadcasts were being selectively censored in my hotel room. Watching the CNN evening news broadcast go silent was a haunting experience.
So what are my impressions of China? On the one hand I see rapid modernization and on the other a deterioration of cultural identity. I perceived a good deal of bureaucracy as well. Both are probably artifacts of the cultural revolution. Our taxi driver said the only gods that are left in China are Mao and currency. I witnessed news censorship firsthand and can't help but wonder how this impacts and shapes perception and reality -not just in China --everywhere it happens and it does happen everywhere; Being outside your comfort zone just makes you notice more. I would liken present day China to the industrial revolution in the United States during the late 19th century (at least as I imagine it) - a time of social mobility, technological advancement, and coming of age. The sun is rapidly setting on the 5000 year old civilization we know from our text books. A new more 'modern' China is rising in her place. I'm glad I went -especially seeing glimpses of old China and watching the new one transform and prepare for the big 'coming of age' party this summer.
The first thing that struck me in Beijing was the scale of construction. High rises being built at a rate unfamiliar to me. I've lived in big cities and have never observed this rate of development before. It is astonishing. Piles of rubble and debris - followed by high rise after high rise and non stop construction.
Hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences in China. Many neighborhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighborhoods. I soon learned that demolished hutong neighborhoods are what many of those piles of rubble are. I made sure to spend a good amount of time in and around the ones I encountered. I wanted to get a sense of this disappearing way of life. The narrow alleys of the hutongs are best suited for rickshaws, bicycles, and pedestrians. Many date earlier than Qing dynasty and are a hodgepodge of traditional homes, shrines, markets, courtyards, and small businesses all huddled together in close proximity; Think of them as old Chinese neighborhoods. You'll be greeted by sounds of roosters, people chattering at a market, and bicycles & rickshaws rattling along the narrow streets. This is definitely a sharp contrast to modern life in China and I'm glad I had a chance to experience it.
Kublai Khan's Beihai park was a hidden gem in Beijing. Strolling in a Chinese garden is a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. The imperial garden in the Forbidden City was another refreshingly quiet and intimate contrast to the grandeur of the other palace buildings and bustling Beijing. Seeing Tiananmen Square was a thrill and completed a story I first heard in 1989; Maybe it was the unrest in Tibet last week or the way news broadcasts were being selectively censored in my hotel room. Watching the CNN evening news broadcast go silent was a haunting experience.
So what are my impressions of China? On the one hand I see rapid modernization and on the other a deterioration of cultural identity. I perceived a good deal of bureaucracy as well. Both are probably artifacts of the cultural revolution. Our taxi driver said the only gods that are left in China are Mao and currency. I witnessed news censorship firsthand and can't help but wonder how this impacts and shapes perception and reality -not just in China --everywhere it happens and it does happen everywhere; Being outside your comfort zone just makes you notice more. I would liken present day China to the industrial revolution in the United States during the late 19th century (at least as I imagine it) - a time of social mobility, technological advancement, and coming of age. The sun is rapidly setting on the 5000 year old civilization we know from our text books. A new more 'modern' China is rising in her place. I'm glad I went -especially seeing glimpses of old China and watching the new one transform and prepare for the big 'coming of age' party this summer.
Comments