Zhang Wei is struggling to keep the Old Beijing website alive. Photo: Courtesy of Zhang Wei

Losing context

Zhang took the restaurant Baodu Zhang as an example of protecting old Beijing culture. He said the owner of the restaurant has applied to the government to list the restaurant's signature dish and other old Beijing traditional food making skills as part of the city's intangible cultural heritage. The owner of the restaurant is concerned that if the old building that houses the restaurant is demolished, the traditional food would lose its charm in a new building. As a result, it is very important for the restaurant's intangible cultural heritage that dates back more than 130 years to be protected, he said.

Zhang said hutong face the same situation. People who once lived there were driven away to outside the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing, and moved to new buildings. Disappearing with the hutong is the special relationship and emotions between old neighbors, a very important feature of old Beijing.

Additionally, some traditional art and performance styles such as zhongfan (flagpole juggling) are vanishing quickly with the disappearance of hutong. Without a stage and carrier, people are at a loss.