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In the Shadow of 'The Egg'
Architectural feats contrast with ancient Chinese neighborhoods
Posted
at
10:39 pm
by Michael Martina
Michael Martina
(click to enlarge)
Gao Yuting, and engineer who worked on China's new National Theater, welcomes Chinese media in the main auditorium.
Michael Martina
(click to enlarge)
Taking their first tour of the National Theater, Chinese college students enjoy the open space inside the nearly empty national monument.
Gao Yuting raised his arm high, making a sweeping gesture in welcome to members of the Chinese media on a special "Olympic tour" of Beijing's new National Theater. A supervising engineer of construction, Gao proudly rattled off statistics beneath the glow of the auditorium lights. The roof: 212 meters by 143 meters. Not a single supporting beam.
"There is nothing like it in the world. Not yet," he said with a barely visible smile, inviting the world's copycats to take note.
Many of the Chinese journalists on the tour hailed from cities other than Beijing, their national pride peeking through at first sight of the glistening interior of the new national symbol of development. Just a stone's throw away from the ancient Forbidden City and the Great Hall of the People, "The Egg," as it is commonly referred to, is the structural and proverbial counterpart to Beijing's other architectural highlight, the now famous National Stadium, or "Bird's Nest."
"I've been looking forward to coming to see the inside for a long time," said Zhang Guodong, a reporter from The People's Daily. "Does America have any theaters this modern and beautiful?" he wondered.
Despite its grandeur, the theater has not been without its critics, who suggest that a national monument so close to other ancient symbols of China should respect the visual themes established throughout history. Gao Yuting affirms that The Egg has Chinese characteristics, though most are interior elements colored in red and gold.
"When the Great Hall of the People was first built, many people had the same questions," Gao said. "This is only natural. In time they will come to understand."
About 700 meters south of the National Theater, another more organic symbol spreads itself across a portion of Beijing. With 800 years of history, making it the oldest standing neighborhood in the city, Dazhalan has been billed for demolition in the coming months. In its stead, a six-lane road and parking garages will be built. Separated by Qianmen Street, the National Theater and Dazhalan taken together are emblematic of the change that still grips this city nearly three decades after China's economic opening.
One narrow lane, Yanshoujie, is lined with bustling butcher shops, fruit stands and crowded courtyard homes. Most of the buildings have ad hoc additions, which would make modern renovations impossible. The street's name is roughly translated as "Prolong Life Street." It could be razed as soon as September.
Notices of the impending demolition are pasted on building facades. In typical fashion, when the developer is ready to move ahead with its plans, the neighborhood's buildings will be marked one-by-one with the Chinese character for demolition, "chai." Residents will be offered a settlement, the sum of which is sometimes a bone of contention, and given weeks to months to move to newer developments on the outskirts of the city.
One resident on Yanshoujie, an elderly man named Yu Xiaozhang, said he tries not to have an opinion about the notices. It is a measured reply perhaps, given the sensitive nature of settlement holdouts that have made news in China and across the globe.
"If the government wants us to go, we go. If they want us to stay, we stay," Yu said.
Yu, who plays a traditional Chinese instrument called an erhu for a living, has lived on Yanshoujie since he was young. His walls are lined with photos of his father and grandfather. One depicts Yu as a child in 1951, dressed in a Mao suit.
Down one quiet lane lives an unlikely resident. Michael Meyer, a 36-year-old Minnesotan lives in a 90-square-foot apartment without plumbing or heat. He is he author of a new book, "The Last Days of Old Beijing," which examines the history and future of Dazhalan.
The former Peace Corps volunteer came to China in 1995, and later moved into a high-rise apartment building in Beijing. Meyer said living in the high-rise made him feel disconnected from Beijing.
"I didn't know my neighbors. I didn't know who collected my garbage. I might as well have been living in America," he said.
So, he moved to Dazhalan in 2005.
Meyer, who also attended Tsinghua University architecture school, said there is a movement within urban design circles in China to create modern developments with a sense of community.
What they don't realize, he suggests, is that they are tearing down elements of that community with each neighborhood, where often multiple families share courtyard homes.
According to Meyer, only about 8 percent of Beijing's remaining traditional courtyard homes are protected, an uncertain safeguard at that. If a community can prove that it is financially viable, it helps to protect it from demolition and development. Meyer predicts that the old courtyard homes in the Gulou area north of the city may one day serve as Beijing's gentrified "old town." The rest of the now fading neighborhoods may disappear altogether.
The prospects of modern comforts are attractive to many residents who live in Dazhalan. According to Meyer, many live in simultaneous fear and anticipation of seeing "chai" marked on their door in the morning. In one sense, it could mean amenities they have lived without. In another sense, some are afraid that the government settlements will cut them short.
"For hundreds of years there have been the 'last days of old Beijing,'" Meyer added, emphasizing the city's continuous transformations under the of varying dynasties and governments.
At the very least, Beijing residents are becoming more aware of the living heritage that they are a part of, Meyer said. As a result, reconstruction settlements are getting higher.
Michael Martina
(click to enlarge)
Demolition notices are posted on the facade of a building along Yanshoujie.
Michael Martina
(click to enlarge)
At home at his Dazhalan apartment, Michael Meyer is the author of "The Last Days of Old Beijing," a new book which explores the history and demise of Beijing's ancient neighborhoods.
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