Hutong Chronicles - Mike Meyer: Danwei TV Hard Hat Show

Southwest of Qianmen and Tiananmen Square in Beijing is a maze of narrow alleyways stretching from the theater and market street of Dazhalan all the way west to Liulichang, Beijing's antique and traditional Chinese art supplies street.

In the Qing Dynasty, this area was the city's commercial quarter where travelling tradesmen and local commoners who were not allowed to live in the Manchurian City (sometimes called Tartar City in English language accounts) north of Qianmen. It was also the place where Beijing opera really took off, and the area of choice for theaters, tea houses, inns, opium dens and brothels.

As Beijing prepares for the Olympics, this historic quarter's future is uncertain.

This episode of the Hard Hat Show is an interview with American writer Mike Meyer, who is living in the area and writing a book about it, to be published next year by Walker / Bloomsbury. He has been living in a small room in a communal courtyard, volunteer teaching at schools, and getting to know the community. He tells us about the history and future of the neighborhood, and the problem of preserving the area in the face of Beijing's hyperspeed urban development.

This video is also available at Danwei TV, where there are links to other ways to see the video, including an option to download the entire video as a Quicktime file.

Credits: Shot and edited by Luke Mines, presented by Jeremy Goldkorn, with music by Fernando Fidanza.

www.danwei.tv
http://danwei.org

Sexy Beijing is now on its own website: check the latest episodes at
http://www.sexybeijing.tv

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• China
• Beijing
• hutong
• Dazhalan
• 大栅栏
• 八大胡同
• history
• urban
• planning
• preservation
• alley
• sustainable

[comercial1976]

Don't care about those westerners, they are simply brainwashed by their government. For example, culturally, Europe is still in the medieval age, because we fear and envy, and US too, constaint any nation from growing up. They fear that a annually two digit growing economy, the 2nd economy in the world will surpass them. so any fuel the agents like Dalai lama to do worldwide libel and propaganda, neo-nazis

[BATURUSHA]

Mongolian population in China=the majority of mongol population in the whole world

[BATURUSHA]

Saw wrongly

[Rakkasans2006]

dude unit45x is a one of those Exile Tibetan. Talking to these "talking livestock" is like talking to dog shit. you are wasting your time.

[unit45x]

---a miniscule size and population is comparable to one of the largest land masses and the LARGEST populations of the world??? Why compare??? Sad Sad Sad...

[unit45x]

I was making the same point actually...think about it!

[ManjuSu]

I wasn't talking about the size population, I was talking about the size of the economy and yes, they are comparable.

[ManjuSu]

CCP is a governement, Han Chinese is a people. And "Chinese" is a nationality, not an ethnicity. And no, Tibetans are not Han Chinese.

[unit45x]

So you are equating the CCP with Han people, right? That means Tibetans are not Chinese, if I am understanding your rational correctly, right?

[unit45x]

The Laogai camps, which are the application of forced labor by the Chinese government, constitute an integral part of China's economy and are viewed by many as institutions of slavery.