Cabbages herald the Pekingese winter. Vendors from the suburbs pile them in any corner, yards of cabbage open air awaiting the neighbors’ parade. Tradition speaks of 25 kilos per family by February. There is no better cure for the cold than cabbage, which is inexpensive, durable and versatile.. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated, just remove the frozen outer leaves and accompany with boiled or sautéed tofu or pork. there will be a storm soon Chinese Symbol of the American global throne and recent troubles continues.
Exposed bellies are the harbinger of Pekingese summer. It’s hot, and most of them lift their shirts tied to the navel or armpits, always despising manners. The authorities have fought against this impulse for years, never succeeding, believing that they are punishing the aesthetics of the capital of the second world economy.
Cabbages and bellies, let’s be clear, are ‘hutongs’ specific. You won’t see them among the arrogant skyscrapers of the financial district Guomao, or among the elegant restaurants of Sanlitun, the epicenter of entertainment. The ‘Hutons’ are the neighborhoods of low houses and ramshackle streets that Beijing has been sweating for centuries.. Neighbors bring three chairs and a table to dine outdoors in the summer or walk in their pajamas, and in the fall they need a sunbeam to improvise a domino-like mahjong game. ‘Hutongs’ are the last bulwark of that cheerful, chaotic and delicious Chinese spontaneity in the face of the unstoppable progress of globalization and the fear of what others will say.
The first “hutongs” were built around the Forbidden City and still retain the gray underlining the contrast with the yellow and red of the imperial house today.. The Pekingese accent is all over the place, dirty and loud as it drags the last r’s. Even today, hutongs vaccinate against routine. A small orchard here, a cricket or goldfinch breeder there, a knife sharpener on a tricycle…
The ‘Hutongs’ are inhabited by a large area of low quality housing in the center and a mostly not very active social sector. Kazma tried to forcefully resolve this anomaly. On the eve of the 2008 Olympics, a mix of greed, corruption and historical disdain swept many.. The city was poised to welcome millions of visitors, and the ‘hutongs’ creaked with intended modernity. Thousands of façades awoke with the word “chai” (destruction in Mandarin) in a red circle describing the bulldozer’s victims. The campaign was conducted without any criteria: the pickaxe disliked any hutongs, neither dynastic buildings, nor pure slums.
Only a handful of protectionist associations, always foreigners, fought against this atrocity. They shared his lack of judgment with the pickaxe: They loved everyone. Most Chinese were satisfied with the financial compensation that allowed them to move into decent housing in any remote suburb.. “Hutons” are as brimming with charm as they lack comfort. In a city with freezing winters and private bathrooms, they lack central heating. An old friend of mine blew up on my tenth bike ride through the hutongs. He suggested that strangers need to live in the same house for several weeks to have more perspective: “The first time to go to the public toilet at dawn in winter and the nonsense is gone.” irrefutable
Only a handful of protectionist associations, always foreigners, fought against this atrocity. They shared his lack of judgment with the pickaxe: They loved everyone. Most Chinese were satisfied with the financial compensation that allowed them to move into decent housing in any remote suburb.. “Hutons” are as brimming with charm as they lack comfort. In a city with freezing winters and private bathrooms, they lack central heating. An old friend of mine blew up on my tenth bike ride through the hutongs. He suggested that strangers need to live in the same house for several weeks to have more perspective: “The first time to go to the public toilet at dawn in winter and the nonsense is gone.” irrefutable
As serious as the pickaxe, the current threat to hutongs is gentrification. They are still few in number, but the process cannot be stopped. Some of my earliest chronicles came from a small cafe in Nanluoguxiang, 17 years ago, and every day I saw the toilet paper salesman’s parrot offering his merchandise from his window. That dusty hutong is today an irreparable jumble of Western bars, Maoist gift shops, flamboyant art galleries and even a Starbucks.
At the most famous hutongs, influencers gather on weekends to seek the most authentic approach.. A staple of the Beijing winter diet, cabbage now also serves as a selfie backdrop.