This Day, That Year

Item from Aug 18, 1990, in China Daily: Experts attending an international symposium on preservation and modernization of historic cities inspect the Zhengyangmen gate on the south side of Tian’anmen Square in Beijing. First built in 1419, the gate has been renovated and is in fine condition . ...

Some 70 leading urban planners from 15 countries and regions are in Beijing for the four-day symposium.

China’s rapid urbanization has hit historic sites hard in many cities.

Beijing’s hutong, or alleyway neighborhood, is just one example. Long considered a symbol of Old Beijing, hutong communities are disappearing fast.

According to the Xicheng branch of the Beijing Commission of Urban Planning, the district has just over 600 hutong, down from more than 850 in 2003.

In addition, some historic homes are lost to urban planning in the capital. In 1999, the former residence of Cao Xueqin, author of Dream of Red Mansions, was demolished to allow for the widening of a street.

About 44,000 cultural heritage sites disappeared nationwide during the late 1980s and 2011.

Attitudes are changing, though. In 2005, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, issued a protection plan for Old Beijing, which aims to preserve the traditional architecture styles of hutong and siheyuan, or quadrangle courtyard house, by 2020.

In April, President Xi Jinping urged local authorities to strike a balance between the conservation of cultural and historic relics and economic development.