The Hutong ... the place to be!
This afternoon we spent some time walking around a shopping district downtown with interesting malls. The most rewarding part of this was a sculpture exhibition/competition with 290 different proposed sculptures to be included in the landscapes of the upcoming Olympic facilities and around the city of Beijing. I took lots of pictures, and will post these when we get back and can do so.
The highlight was our visit to one of the remaining Beijing Hutongs. A Hutong is a neighborhood constructed around an alleyway. This particular Hutong was constructed during the Qing Dynasty about 200 years ago. It served as a residential area for noble families, and is located about a kilometer or two from the Forbidden City.
The visit was a highlight because of the family we visited, and the lovely dinner they served us. What a respite from restaurant food! Food aside, the family includes a mum, dad and their two daughters in their late twenties/early thirties. The parents had an arranged marriage, and are both retired civil servants - an engineer and a former Russian teacher/librarian. During the cultural revolution (1966-76), their house was taken away and became state property. Eight families were assigned to live on their property, a total of 40 extra people. After the death of Mao, the Chinese government apologized for taking away their private property and restored their ownership rights. However, there was no money to immediately relocate the eight families that had been living on their property for ten years already. It was not until December 2004, they informed us, that the local authorities in their Beijing neighborhood provided the money to move out the last people from their property.
Can you imagine that? How patient would you have o be to put up with so many years of outsiders living on your property like that!
Now they have plans to get rid of the extra rooms that were added on their property, and to restore it to its original configuration. If all goes well, they plan to go from hosting occassional meals for tourists to actually having a bed and breakfast. I wish them the best.
PS: Speaking of houses, I am wondering how bad the damage from the flooding and heavy DC rains have affected our roof and basement.
The highlight was our visit to one of the remaining Beijing Hutongs. A Hutong is a neighborhood constructed around an alleyway. This particular Hutong was constructed during the Qing Dynasty about 200 years ago. It served as a residential area for noble families, and is located about a kilometer or two from the Forbidden City.
The visit was a highlight because of the family we visited, and the lovely dinner they served us. What a respite from restaurant food! Food aside, the family includes a mum, dad and their two daughters in their late twenties/early thirties. The parents had an arranged marriage, and are both retired civil servants - an engineer and a former Russian teacher/librarian. During the cultural revolution (1966-76), their house was taken away and became state property. Eight families were assigned to live on their property, a total of 40 extra people. After the death of Mao, the Chinese government apologized for taking away their private property and restored their ownership rights. However, there was no money to immediately relocate the eight families that had been living on their property for ten years already. It was not until December 2004, they informed us, that the local authorities in their Beijing neighborhood provided the money to move out the last people from their property.
Can you imagine that? How patient would you have o be to put up with so many years of outsiders living on your property like that!
Now they have plans to get rid of the extra rooms that were added on their property, and to restore it to its original configuration. If all goes well, they plan to go from hosting occassional meals for tourists to actually having a bed and breakfast. I wish them the best.
PS: Speaking of houses, I am wondering how bad the damage from the flooding and heavy DC rains have affected our roof and basement.
posted by kenokoth at 5:38 AM
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