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Q: Why aren't the hutongs torn down yet?
Considering how nothing seems to be sacred in the pursuit of 'modernity' here, how come these pieces of downtown prime real estate are left relatively untouched?
There has been a movement, led by a women(whos name I can't recall) to preserve many of the hutongs. I have seen a few news items about it in Australia and it has been going on for quite a few years now with reasonable success.
that is cultural heritage, we should keep some for our children, beijing already destory too many historical site(example: the beijing city wall and other old building), now need reserve old culturals and make it become city's features.
The UNESCO said that in three decades and until the Olympic Games in 2008, 80% of the hutongs have already been destroyed. However, some association, including the UNESCO, are trying to make the Hutong part of the World Heritage.
There is a documentary called "Fate of old Beijing" (胡同的湮灭) and produced by Jonah Kessel that retraced the story and recent destruction of the Beijing hutong.
You can see a feature of the documentary on the link below.
