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BEIJING: The demolition of a supposedly protected section of Beijing's old city began this week, triggering renewed outrage over the demise of the Chinese capital's historic courtyards and alleyways.
The homes in Beijing's Dongsi Batiao are being razed to make way for a new residential development, crystallising the plight of the narrow maze-like alleys known as hutongs that once dominated the ancient city centre.
State media have seized on the destruction of the site, in an officially protected cultural preservation district, as an example of official failure to protect hutongs from an ongoing property boom.
"Municipal authorities must not play the indifferent onlooker when the city's cultural history is being squandered," an editorial in the state-run China Daily newspaper said on Wednesday.
Experts say only between 1,200 and 1,500 of the city's hutongs remain, down from around 3,000 50 years ago.
For centuries, the alleys and their conjoined homes centred around the Forbidden City of the emperors were the focus of life for the city's residents.
But many have fallen into disrepair in recent decades or been destroyed by development, first by the Communist government and more recently in a face-lift of the city that has gathered pace as Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympics nears.
"We (once) shared the innocent hope that increasingly scarce hutong traditional alleys... would survive the city's urge to put on a new face for 2008," the China Daily said, adding those hopes had now been "smashed."
The Dongsi Batiao project in a northern section of the city will replace about two dozen traditional residences and has been in the works for years.
The developer, Zhongbao Jiaye Development Company, suddenly notified residents this week that demolition would be completed by May 26 and they must move out.
Many, however, are staying put, mainly because they say compensation has been too small.
"I'm not saying everything old has to be kept the way it is, but you can't treat the commoners with such disrespect," said Zhang Jingjing, a pensioner who says she has been offered about 160,000 yuan (21,000 dollars) for her small dwelling.
As well as lack of compensation, the project has sparked a debate over lax protection of the city's dozens of cultural preservation areas as development roars ahead.
The developers produced a report by cultural experts claiming the area has no historical value, the Beijing News reported Wednesday, but others have disputed that.
"There are many things in these districts that aren't in great shape yet still have cultural value. They are like fish that should escape the net," the paper quoted Luo Zhewen, head of the China Cultural Relics Academy, as saying.
A statement by the developer said its new multi-storey structure will be "in keeping with the general appearance, flavour and materials of the surrounding area," the Beijing News reported.
Meanwhile, a pre-Olympic revamp of Qianmen, Beijing's ancient business, entertainment and culinary centre, continues apace.
That project, which has also seen the destruction of hutongs, has similarly left conservationists up in arms and residents complaining of inadequate compensation.
- AFP/so
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