The Chinese capital Beijing is setting up files for the traditional alleyways, called hutongs, as a substantial effort to preserve the unique Beijing culture and historical architectures.

The municipal government was compiling a book with detailed stories and vivid photos to record all the hutongs that had sunk into oblivion or still existed in the city, said Wang Chunzhu, deputy head of the Beijing Local Archives Compiling Committee.

"Besides the locations, lengths and widths of every hutong, we are also collecting and sorting out materials on their history, name changes and residential records of celebrities," said a principal compiler Xu Xuepeng. "We hope the archives could tell the history and presence of these traditional Beijing alleys and show the cultural cream of this 3,000-year-old city."

According to the "2003 Beijing Almanac", 66 names of places disappeared in 2002, 63 of which were hutong names. The latest figures revealed by the Western District show that nearly 200 hutongs out of the total 820 disappeared in the past 50 years. Many familiar names like "Biandan" (Shoulder Pole) and "Kusi" (Official Provision Warehouse) hutongs only were left in people's memories.

In June 2002, then Beijing Mayor Liu Qi suggested to set up files for the hutongs, saying "the historical changes of hutongs should be recorded", which put the compilation of hutong archives as a priority.

"Besides practical protection and preservation, we need to leave the hutongs in a written form as well, so that our descendants can get all-round information and understanding of this traditional Beijing architectures," explained Xu.

The preliminary survey has completed and all the figures and materials are under investigation. Hopefully the compilation will be completed by the end of this year, according to the committee, said Xu. The files would help friends from elsewhere in China and overseas to know this city better like a "City name card".

Beijing's alleyways boast a history of more than 700 years. Hutong is a Mongolian expression meaning "well", which indicated people at that time lived together around a well and the "passages" they left formed today's hutongs.

Historical records show Beijing had a total of 458 hutongs in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and 978 hutongs during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). And a total of 6,000 alleys had existed in Beijing when the New China was founded in 1949, and 1,330 of them were then named hutongs.

With the rapid development of the city, a great number of hutongs have given way to modern architectures. According to the municipal construction committee, 250,000 square meters of old houses with 20,000 households will be demolished in 2004, which means a lot more hutongs will disappear.

Due to relatively difficult living conditions in hutongs, a lot of Beijing residents have moved to bright and spacious apartment buildings. "Sometimes I saw the hutong I once lived in my dreams. I miss the houses and neighbors very much, but I have got used to living in apartments now," said a 41-year-old hotel manager Jiao Ting.

The hutong Jiao used to live in was crowded with simply-equipped compounds which had a public water supply system and toilets. She still could remember very well how she had suffered from rain leaked from the ceilings in summer.

Today, the living and sanitary conditions in hutongs have much improved. Many local residents have bid farewell to coal and begun using electricity for heating in winter. And the government also invested heavily in renovating and building more clean and cozy toilets for the hutong residents.

"The hutong is an essential part of Beijing culture along with the grand imperial palaces and magnificent halls. That's why it's always attractive to foreigners. I came here to visit hutongs because I want to know a lot more about this ancient city," said a tourist named Robert from Spain.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2004)