Good for some, bad for others

Gushing with emotion and admiration, many foreign scribes have written about the hutong in Beijing and shikumen in Shanghai for the myriad English-language entertainment publications targeting a largely expatriate readership.

There is a sprawling shikumen community in my neighborhood, housing thousands of families. Those low-rise tenement buildings, distinguished by their orange-colored tiled roofs, look quaint and quite attractive from afar. But I doubt if the people living in those crowded apartments with no proper toilets or other modern amenities would share our appreciation of whatever architectural uniqueness or historical value they represent.

The only hutong I have ever visited was the one close to Houhai Lake, which is a favorite tourist spot in Beijing. But colleagues who grew up in a hutong told me that the one in Houhai was redesigned to the point that it bears scant resemblance to the real thing.