CHINA:These are troubled times for the graceful network of passageways fanning out across the city, writes Clifford Coonanin Beijing
A bitterly cold wind is gusting down this ancient Beijing laneway, but the two old friends don't care as they happily set out a couple of stools and a trestle table to enjoy a steaming plate of jiaozi meat dumplings. The sun is shining, and the wind makes the air fresh - it's good for your health, they say.
Despite the diners' upbeat tone, these are troubled times for Beijing's hutong laneways, which once fanned out around the city to form a graceful network of passageways lined with traditional courtyard houses, grey Ming dynasty environs filled with atmosphere.
Only one-third of Beijing's hutongs still exist - most have been demolished or partially destroyed, according to a recently released survey. The devastation of ancient areas such as Qianmen, which used to house some of Beijing's oldest traditional courtyards and alleyways, bears out the report's findings. Qianmen has lost many laneways, some of them dating back to the 13th century, to make way for new developments.
As well as being the main form of urban construction in the "northern capital" of Beijing, the hutongs have for centuries provided a framework for vibrant local communities, as knife-sharpeners, coal merchants and fruit-sellers moved up and down their precincts plying their wares.
Down one winding laneway filled with wafting scents of Mongolian-style pork being barbecued on skewers, Wang Jian, a 70-year-old retired carpenter, is chatting with his neighbours.
Wang says his house is a bit draughty at this time of year, but he'd never dream of leaving the hutongs. He never married and has no children, so his neighbours are like family to him, particularly as he gets older.
"I love my neighbours and friends. There's a great feeling of community here in the lanes. My brother is disabled and in a wheelchair and he's had a lot of help from the neighbours," he says.
The word hutong itself is originally a Mongolian expression meaning "well": in early Beijing, communities grew up in the streets leading to the wells. During the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644), there were 458 hutongs in Beijing; the figure rose to 978 during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
The latticework of streets housed the eunuchs of the imperial household, the markets for coal, jewellery or goats, historical columns dedicated to the unicorn or the courtyards of the Wendefang, or Literature and Morality district.
By the 1980s, when China began its opening-up process, there were 3,679 alleys in Beijing, but since then rampant development has destroyed many of them - the number of hutongs has fallen by 40 per cent since then as town planners clear the precincts to make way for roads and gleaming office blocks.
Some courtyard houses on the laneways have been cleared and set aside for purchase by rich Chinese, and foreigners keen to have that authentic Beijing experience. However, a recent auction of courtyard houses was a failure, because of a lack of clarity over who owns the houses - title can be controversial in many cases.
But still the destruction continues. The areas due to be demolished are marked with the character chai, which means demolish. The pace of destruction was expected to slow as 2008 neared, but new chai signs are still going up.
While some of the development is linked to projects for the 2008 summer Olympics, which are being held in the capital, much of the old city has been knocked down as part of the broader redevelopment plans to make Beijing into a world-class city.
Chairman Mao Zedong started the process in the 1950s, when he moved many factories into the city. But the Great Helmsman's impact on the hutongs has been dwarfed by efforts to redevelop the capital as a world city, complete with world-scale office buildings in the Central Business District in the heart of the city and the new signature Olympic buildings springing up on the sites of ancient communities.
A survey by the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture examined about 1,320 traditional streets and lanes and found that 15 per cent had been destroyed to make way for new buildings.
Another 52 per cent have managed to retain something of their original condition but have suffered serious damage. For example, many have had the traditional courtyard houses destroyed, while only one-third of the hutongs have retained their original character.
Sun Xiulan (30) has only recently moved to a house in a laneway near the Bell Tower, in the increasingly trendy district of Houhai.
"I moved here a year ago and I really like it. It's very convenient and it's cheap to live here too. My child's school is near here. The neighbours are very friendly, though I'm always out and about," she says.
"I don't like tall buildings, and if they build skyscrapers, I'll never manage the rent," says Ms Sun.
Locals worry that Beijing has lost something of its essence as an old capital city, even though many of the resettled residents are quite happy about being moved from cramped courtyard houses, often with multiple families in a building, to modern apartments with great facilities. But they do complain that the community spirit is gone. There are also cases of corrupt developers pocketing their compensation money, and armed thugs have been involved in illegally moving out some of the more stubborn residents.
Alarmed that there may be nothing of Old Beijing for the visitors to see during the Olympic Games, the government has introduced restoration guidelines for the hutongs, requiring that they be rebuilt with original materials and retain their original grey colour. Many courtyard houses are being rebuilt with interior toilets, and communal toilets along the laneways have been dramatically upgraded.
"I hope they rebuild these old hutongs and the courtyard houses. They'll be a lot nicer to live in than they are at the moment. Although I am a bit worried if they rebuild the houses, I won't be able to afford to buy a new one," says one elderly woman.