"Four Generations under One Roof," a novel by the contemporary writer Lao She, depicts Beijingers in the 1930s and 1940s living in siheyuan, the enclosed, one-story courtyard houses that make up old Beijing.
Though more than 60 years have passed, and high-rise blocks have come to dominate the capital's increasingly tall skyline, the remaining courtyard houses still set the stage for some vivid slices of the old life. The hutong (small lanes) still cover about a third of the city's urban area and about a quarter of the city's residents still live in courtyards.
Specialists and people from various organizations and perspectives have been clamoring to protect the traditional compound buildings, symbols of Beijing and of traditional Chinese architecture handed down from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1386), that nevertheless represent a headache for local administrative workers and the residents themselves.
"Most of the siheyuan are in a critical condition," one architectural specialist said at the 10th Symposium of Chinese Folk Houses held in Beijing recently.
Wang Cheng, an expert in the research of traditional Chinese architecture and the secretary-general of the meeting, listed three particular siheyuan-related "headaches" that have been bothering administrative workers. First, during the rainy season, water tends to leak into many of the older houses; second, during the summer months, electricity overloads cause frequent short circuits because the houses are not equipped with appropriate wiring; and third, in the winter, a lack of heating systems forces residents to burn coal for heat, which increases pollution and creates other problems.
Overcrowding in the city has changed the original look and functions of siheyuan. One traditional compound which used to house one family now houses seven to eight or more families living crowded together. Some courtyards now contain illegally built structures that serve to shelter people and possessions. And some old walls were torn down to give room for these extra buildings.
The haphazard and undeveloped nature of municipal facilities also make life for residents more inconvenient. For example, one public toilet is usually shared by several dozen families; electric wires installed by the residents fly cross the roofs dangerously; and backed-up sewer systems and the leveling of lane roads often turns the courtyards into small and smelly ponds during rainstorms.
"All of my family have hoped for years that our old compound would be pulled down so that we could move to new buildings," said Wang Xiuhua, a worker from Beijing. Wang, 47, said more than 10 members, representing three generations, of her family still shared three rooms in an old siheyuan.
How best to preserve the old city while developing modern infrastructure has been debated for years. Meanwhile, the practice has been to save some valuable siheyuan, maintaining old Beijing on some well-preserved lanes.
The Beijing municipal government this year designated the first 25 historical culture protection zones. A series of regulations and a planning programme on preserving the old areas will appear at the end of the year.
Equitable and effective protection of these siheyuan is the focus of this latest Chinese Folk Housing symposium.
Specialists pointed out some errant ideas and practices contained in the current measures during the meeting.
Removing all the residents from the siheyuan and turning them into museums was not practical, they said. "Most of the siheyuan houses are traditional folk creations rather than cultural relics. Thus they should not be treated the same way like cultural relics," said Wang Cheng.
Some people have suggested tearing down old siheyuan houses and building new ones in the old style in more marginal areas of the city. But Wang feels this, too, is a poorly conceived idea. "Imitation often results in neither fish nor fowl," Wang said.
The booming of the "holiday economy" brings opportunities to the preservation of siheyuan. siheyuan tours have become attractions to visitors from both home and abroad, so preservation is a must, even to the economically minded.
Participants in the symposium offered numerous suggestions for the preservation of the courtyards.
Some suggested a changing of function. For example, a siheyuan could be used as a kindergarten with the main, south-facing room serving as a class room, the two wing rooms for napping and the yard for play.
Siheyuan could also be rented as small hotels, or as offices for cultural companies, others said.
Among many of the proposals, professor Tang Yuyang's "micro-circulate" model has received common approval.
"Our model involves making gradual modifications to the old compounds," Tang said.
According to the microcirculate plan, which was developed by Tang and her co-workers at the Beijing Architecture Engineering Institute, siheyuan houses should keep their original residential function, on the condition that reformations to facilities, such as water, electricity and heating systems, are upgraded over time.
According to Tang, the local government should be responsible for the adjustment of urban infrastructure while the residents should bear the cost of repairing the houses. The upgrading work, however, should strictly follow the overall plans and designs of the city planners.
Tang and her research group have collected detailed information through interviews with hundreds of siheyuan residents. They collected data on the number of families or people sharing one compound, their income and whether they were willing to co-operate with the government in the reformation of the houses.
"It is not that courtyard houses are not fit for living in any longer, but rather the density of the population has made them uncomfortable," Tang said.
To remedy this, Tang says, roughly half the residents should be moved. "If 50 percent of the residents were moved and municipal facilities were improved, the inhabitants left could live a very comfortable life in these traditional courtyards," Tang said.
(China Daily 10/09/2000)
