Photographer Captures City's Hutonghistory
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CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Tuesday, May 4, 2021 | 7 READ Above: Jia Yong in Beijing in 1998. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Right: Qianmen Street in 2006. PHOTOS BY JIA YONG / FOR CHINA DAILY Photographer captures city’s hutong history Longtime lensman in the restaurant, and his work attracted the attention of diners. incorporates In 2006, a Korean senior who ate in the restaurant told him that he beauty of nostalgia admired Jia’s alley photos and and humanity in invited him to take part in the 2006 Daegu Photo Biennale in South his pictures Korea. “Although I suspected it might be By LI HONGYANG a scam, I sent dozens of photos to [email protected] him,” Jia said. “Surprisingly, he later sent me back an award certificate, a Over the past 37 years, Jia Yong, a collection of the biennale’s works Beijing resident dedicated to taking and a prize of $2,000.” photos in hutong — the capital’s tra- His award-winning work Peizhi ditional alleys — has been capturing Hutong depicts a shirtless elderly and composing everyday life into man with a cattail leaf fan in his pieces of art. hand. The man is sitting on a thresh- “People are more expressive than old of a house in the hutong. stationary objects in my photos,” Jia “It was a hot summer day, but said. most households in alleys had not “People can represent times been equipped with air condition- because in different eras, even only ers,” Jia said. “Seniors loved to enjoy 10 years apart, people who live in the the cool winds that blew through same alley would have a totally dif- doors. ferent living situation and attitude “The scene touched me strongly towards life.” and reminded me of my own father In his alley-themed photos are and grandfather.” residents at their doors enjoying the It wasn’t until 2000 that Jia treat- cool air, a deliveryman handing out ed his hobby as a serious and urgent the daily newspaper and a barber occupation because some old cutting a boy’s hair. hutong started to be renovated. Through his photos, bustling “I suddenly realized that I am not sounds on streets, vendors’ hawking only taking photos but recording and giggles from children can history because some buildings in almost be heard. the hutong would disappear forev- “I am always fascinated by the er,” he said. original states of people living in “I also felt a sense of loss as sen- Beijing’s hutong,” he said. “These iors who lived in hutong for decades photos record pieces of memories at had passed away one by one. I need- certain times.” Clockwise from top left: A barber cuts a boy’s hair on Fenfangliuli Street in 1996. Residents rest at a corner of Qingfeng Lane in 1994. ed to hurry up and take more photos Since 1984, Jia has taken more A resident buys a copy of a newspaper from a peddler in Tieshuxiejie Alley in 1994. A wedding is held in Yunju Hutong in 1985. of people there.” than 100,000 pictures of hutong in In 2010, Jia held his first photo black and white. exhibition at a gallery on Dashilan “Colors of black and white express up as demand for photography “Residents would not wait there West Street, titled “Goodbye, a sense of craftsmanship and histo- surged, but cameras were unafford- and pose for you,” he said. “If there Hutong”. The gallery lasted one ry,” he said. able for ordinary people,” Jia said. was nothing to shoot during my first month. The 58-year-old was born and “Visitors wouldn’t want to leave walk around an alley, I would search His most recent exhibition, titled raised in a hutong near Dashilan Beijing without taking a photo, so I can’t change the appearance of a city or stop for good scenes a second and third “A slice of the memory of South West Street, a well-known ancient they’d rent a camera.” it from being changed. But at least I have time until an image that I could tell Peking”, was held in 2019 in a photo block in Beijing. With those circumstances in the ability to record scenes that will a story with showed up.” equipment mall in Beijing. Jia said His father painted ancient build- mind, Jia had a lot of chances to Also, some people refused to have he is planning more exhibitions of ings and participated in the restora- practice taking photos when he was represent its history.” their photos taken and asked him to this kind. tion of the Summer Palace. He was a teenager, thanks to the shops stop. Jia said he never got frustrated, “As I grow older and travel to Jia Yong, Beijing photographer affected by the art atmosphere at a around his neighborhood. though, and insisted on pursuing more places, I become more nostal- young age. In 1983, Jia paid for a photogra- his hobby. gic. When I see old items used by the According to Jia, since the Qing phy course to learn camera mechan- When more residents learned generation of my father and grand- Dynasty (1644-1911), streets located ics and used his income from recommended shooting the items ble. But he later found people who that they had a photographer as a father, I feel a sense of history,” he to the south of the Forbidden City peddling vegetables and driving a and topics he was familiar with. resided in a place for a long time neighbor, Jia’s work became easier. said. have been an area for entertainment tricycle for tourists to support his “The first thing that occurred to more representative of the hutong In 1997, he opened a restaurant “I can’t change the appearance of — full of theaters, restaurants and hobby. me was the hutong where I grew up,” culture. selling luzhu, which is boiled pork a city or stop it from being changed. bathhouses. In the class, Jia’s teacher taught he said. However, it was harder to take giblets with baked wheaten paste, But at least I have the ability to “In the 1980s, camera rental him not to take pictures randomly At first, Jia considered pictures of photos of people than of stationary on the Dashilan West Street. record scenes that will represent its shops on the street began popping but to find a theme. The teacher also historical buildings in hutong valua- buildings at the beginning. He displayed his photo collection history.” Alleys offer combination of rich history and modern charm Yangmeizhu West Street houses and old-style bookstores, some cheap eateries and common Japan, France and Germany. Soon mai dumplings, gather together on and revered as a scholar and teach- It is a traditional Beijing hutong visitors can also enjoy a cozy after- shops. after 1959, the diplomats were the street. Their presence makes the er. He played a significant role in the alley lined by single-story residen- noon or a coffee break in the alley. You can see a number of Western- moved to the Sanlitun area. area full of hustle and bustle day and anti-imperialist May the Fourth ces in Dashilan, a busy commercial It has become a cultural and busi- style buildings that are protected by You can find St. Michael Catholic night. Movement in 1919, and his legacy area of the capital’s Xicheng district, ness innovation area after being the city’s artifact preservation Church, which was established in Besides enjoying the Beijing-style also includes leading the revolution and is about 500 meters away from renovated with artist shops, cafe authority. They were once homes of 1902 on the site of a church food, you can also learn traditional of simplified Chinese script. Tian’anmen Square. and bars starting over the past some foreign diplomats. destroyed during the Boxer Rebel- skills in some workshops, watch The museum is mainly comprised Originally called Yangmei West eight years. The hutong was called Rice Alley lion (1899-1901). dramas in the Tianleyuan Theater of two sections. Street and named after a female You can start your journey of the during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and read books in a library called One is Lu Xun’s former residence matchmaker, it was renamed Yang- alley at Mofan Bookstore. From for its proximity to the river port by Xianyukou Street Chunfeng Xixi, or Spring Wind, on where he lived from 1924 to 1926, meizhu West Street — the street of there, you can head west and take a which rice and grains arrived in the Strolling along Qianmen Pedes- the old-fashioned commercial which is also a cultural heritage poplars, plums and bamboo in Chi- window seat at Soloist to have a cup capital from the south. During the trian Street, you will find an old lane street. site under the protection of the nese — early last century. of drip coffee. On the way, you may Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a num- called Xianyukou. It was a hutong Beijing government. The other is Located in the center of Beijing, see Beijing locals playing Chinese ber of ministries moved to the area, built during the Ming Dynasty, and Gongmenkou Ertiao an exhibition hall displaying cop- the 496-meter-long and more than chess or come across interesting including those in charge of diplo- it has been named as a historical It is a 266-meter-long hutong in ies of his works, including letters 600-year-old alley attracts tourists people talking about their own ideas matic affairs. and cultural street protected by the Fuchengmen, Beijing’s Xicheng dis- and journals, photos and personal not only for its examples of tradi- on arts and life.