Zhonglou and Gulou Hutongs

Once dominating the city, around 80% of Beijing's hutong districts have been leveled to make way for modern development.

These photographs were taken at the beginning of January (been traveling and unable to upload before), after I learnt that the wrecking ball would soon come to the neighborhoods surrounding the historic Drum and Bell Towers (Gulou and Zhonglou). There has been (to my knowledge) a single mention in the state run media.

There is much controversy surrounding the clearance of these communities. I don't have much to add to the debate, living with no plumbing or heating can't be fun, but it is sad to see another slice of old Beijing life vanish.

The wrecking ball is coming...

Hutong rooftops.

Street barber working in the shadow of Zhonglou.

Board games. Anyone know the name of this one?

Chinese hacky sack.

Policemen working hard.

Two wheels are still king in the hutong.

For all your wild fowl needs.

Earning a crust in the hutong.

Very few of the buildings have indoor plumbing (or heating), leaving residents reliant on public conveniences. The toilets are suprisingly clean and well looked after.

Toilet attendant relaxing in what remains of the afternoon sun.

An elderly woman buys a snack of baked goods.

As is often the case, the market is something of a focal point for the community.

A stall selling Cultural Revolution propaganda poster reprints, aimed at the tourist market.

Always time for a game of cards.

Many residents have turned the front rooms of their homes into restaurants or bars. Here one proprietor relaxes whilst waiting for customers.

 

A portrait of Zhang Manhao in his courtyard home.

Sunset over the hutong.

KTV

Karaoke, for KTV as it is know in East Asia, is wildly popular in China. When conversing with someone you have just met, after, “where you from?” and, “why you so tall?” the first question is usually, “do you like KTV?”

Unlike communal Western karaoke bars, patrons hire a private room where they and their friends sing and are delivered drinks and food as they desire. The establishments are ubiquitous, popping up on just about every street corner, and often hidden away inside other businesses. Last weekend at a club (which is a whole other report that I’ll be making when I’ve been back with a camera), we were ushered at closing time onto what I thought was the street, but ended up singing in a back room for what felt like an eternity, 

The past time is prevalent amongst the young and old, men and women. Whole families will go at the weekend, young men after work on a Friday night. Some will drink beer, most just smoke countless cigarettes and sing for hours.

It is also apparently socially acceptable for two men to sing “I Will Always Love You” to each other, alone, whilst holding hands, as my friend Peter and I did recently.

KTV bars are also notorious for often being front for prostitution. At many you can hire a “host,” a pretty young lady who will pour drinks for you and your party, and keep you company more privately if you are willing to pay extra. I’ve yet to encounter such place, but will be back with full chronicle once I do.

 

 

Bamboo Forest

The Bamboo Forest, where the movie House of Flying Daggers was filmed, is a popular destination for Chinese tourists, located just outside of Yongchuan where live. 

I joined my counterpart Frank’s family to take a closer look. As expected there were lots of Chinese tourists, steep hills and bamboo.

 

Mid Autumn and National Day Holidays

On October 1st 1949, Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Tienanmen Square, Beijing, after a long and bitter civil war fought against the Kuomintang. National Day is held on its anniversary every year in China, with citizens granted a three day holiday in order to celebrate this occasion.

The Mid Autumn Festival has a longer history (research suggests the festival dates back over 3000 years), and is celebrated by the people of China and Vietnam on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest. Families traditionally will gather to eat moon cakes (a pastry containing a lotus seed or red bean paste), share food and gaze at the earth’s celestial body. There are many legends associated with the moon in China. The most popular tells how Chang’e became the Moon Goddess after overdosing on a pill of immortality and floating into the sky. The Communist Party decreed that the festival would become a three day public holiday in 2008.

The Moon Goddess Chang'e (source)

This year the festivities happened to occur on consecutive days, resulting in an eight day holiday (3 + 3 = ?). I spent the time in Chengdu with my friend Peter and his family. Naturally we ate vast quantities of delicious food, and got very, very, drunk.

I was the first foreigner to ever set foot in Peter's parent's house

My favorite moment took place when I happened upon this scene, the day after National Day. 

With the Chinese national anthem playing full blast behind him, Pan Zheng, a student from Chengdu, was vigorously flourishing the Chinese flag outside a mobile phone shop, in an attempt to entice people inside to buy an upgraded version of a consumer product that they probably already own (in a recorded population of 1.3 billion, over a billion cell phones are currently in use in China, despite estimates of approximately 254 million citizens living on under $1.25 per day in 2009). China Mobile is a state owned enterprise – despite embracing “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” (externally viewed as “Capitalism with an Authoritarian Government”), and a perception that private enterprise has wholly fueled the economic boom, state owned companies still account for a huge proportion of GDP and, according to the World Bank, control 44% of assets in industry – but I wonder if on that historic day in 1949, with fresh memories in their minds of the Long March, the years in Yan’an, guerrilla warfare, starvation, death and disease, this is what Mao and the rest of the PRC founders had hoped for.

"Buy more shit!"

Dance off - Malaysia / Indonesia