shoesonawire

Demolition

Everyday I pass this long gate of rusted panels. Here and there are openings in the panels where bikes with massive loads cart away recyclable materials and garbage.

Inside the is a the remains of a hutong, a traditional Beijing alley. I have written about hutongs before as they are infamously disappearing around town for several reasons, most of which involve their replacement with new skyrise developments, but also many are condemned as unlivable.

Hutongs have been used in Beijing for centuries. The narrow alleys (hutongs) and siheyuan courtyards not only been a solution for compact urban living, but as a structure they keep cool in the hot summers and in the spring and winter protect against the harsh winds and sandstorms.

As far as the media is concerned, their removal is mostly accepted with bittersweetness. Many lack plumbing and have ancient standards, but inevitably their removal is the erasure of Beijing's cultural vernacular architecture, which is left to skyrises and the occasional imperial palaces.

Today I walked around the old walls of the former hutong situated opposite my apartment block and finally went inside to check it out. I found a wasteland of rubble and garbage. And people still living amoungst this slow and ongoing demolition. Indeed, it appears as if many of the residents are employed or at least are responsible for clearing out the garbage. There no professional looking hulling trucks. I see only bikes carting away broken slats of sheet rock and other detrital materials. Here are the pictures.

Garbage strewn path, walking on the outside of the hutong wall.

Security System

The path to the hutong, on the outside of the walls.

Many people still live in the demolished hutong. I am guessing that the area is a little more than a square mile. The equivalent scale of destruction would be half the campus of University of Arizona. Imagine an area of this size whose buildings have been blasted with the furntiure and material items still inside.

This is the heart of the site, where people that still live here can buy a little food without leaving the neighborhood. There are a few remaining eateries and baozi (steamed bread) spots in this center and a few homes that look as if they double as general stores.

Wall made of doors

Few remaining homes in the rubble

Siheyuan (courtyard) passageway

Real estate banner used as window cover.

Demolition cleaners and residents

Entrance to a remaining residences

Rubble field cleaned of garbage

Exiting the east gate of the hutong demolition site I arrive onto the boulevard I ride to work everyday. On the opposite side of the street is a new sidewalk, soon to be livened by trees planted in concrete.