Beijing's historic hutong are in danger of disappearing. That's the warning from residents and historians, who have called on authorities to do more to protect this unique part of the capital's culture. In 2000, Beijing still had 1,300 hutong, according to amateur historian Zhang Wei. But he estimates that since then, at least half of them have disappeared. According to regulations, people can report illegal buildings to urban patrol officers, known as chengguan, and buildings found to be illegal will be demolished by force. However, a China Daily reporter found that it was not an easy task, and lots of additional structures built by their owners were found in hutong. Many owners added a second floor or even more floors to their houses, especially in buildings near main streets, in order to rent more apartments and make more money. Zhang, the historian, said that to better protect the hutong, the government should offer more compensation to residents willing to move away. Guo Dazhi, a photojournalist in Beijing, lived in a hutong for nearly 30 years before moving to eastern Chaoyang district. Guo hopes that the government can solve the problem by moving residents out of hutong with policies such as public renting programs. However, the Beijing Commission of Urban Planning said in a report in July that the relocation of residents from old areas was very expensive.According to the report, allocating 10,000 residents costs 1.5 billion yuan . How many hutong exist up till now?
1300 300 2000 600