Why is the Qianmen Dashilan area a slum?

Dashilan stretches from Qianmen in the north to Zhushikou in the south, from Qianmen Street in the east to Meishi Street in the west. It is only over 270 meters long and 5 meters wide, but it is home to 70 or 80 shops, and every one of them is Famous and time-honored, it accommodates 50,000 people in about 1 square kilometer.

This is the most intuitive portrayal of Dashilar.

Hidden behind the hustle and bustle of the city are overcrowded traffic, housing areas that are over a century old and almost collapsed, and are also gathering places for laid-off workers, people living on minimum living allowances, and the elderly. There are counterfeit goods everywhere and a high crime rate.

In the eyes of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, this is Beijing’s “slum”, Beijing’s “rural area”, and a key area in Beijing’s dilapidated housing renovation plan.

Two stone lions stood proudly at both ends of the roof tiles, looking into the distance, seeming to be noisy with everything around them.

There is a mess under their feet. There are plywood scattered everywhere in the alleys, old houses that have been "disembowelled", broken bricks and tiles piled up in the corner of the alley, and even the seals on the doors are missing. Flying in the wind.

Wherever you look, only this century-old store, like the stone lion above its head, still stands upright. According to the faded font size above the door, from right to left: "An Yu" "Fu Lai Dian Merchant", this century-old inn is rooted deep in the alley of Xidaochang Street. It was a hotel where businessmen at that time rested and stayed.

Several porters shuttled through the door of this century-old store. Only the shouts of them carrying cabinets made people realize that this place was not so lonely. Lane adds a little life.

"This is a century-old store. I was born here and have lived here for 50 years.

"The owner of Fulai store is directing the porters.

Walking into the courtyard of Fulai store, you feel like you have returned to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The design of the courtyard and attic perfectly reproduces the ecological map of a hundred years ago.

Now the life of the century-old store is also coming to an end with the renovation of dilapidated buildings in Dashilar.

"There is a Buddha statue buried underneath. It is empty and leads directly to the temple in the west.

"The owner of the courtyard stepped on the ground in the middle of the courtyard. Perhaps when moving, he brought many childhood memories. It became clear again.

There is an old man standing at the entrance of the alley with his hands folded, bending over and staring at the empty house next to him in a daze. He is as quiet as an old photo. Time seems to be frozen here. An old man in his seventies is standing there. Question: Is such a deserted street still the lively alley of my childhood?

Some media once said that "Dashilar is the slum of Beijing." It is the earliest commercial street in Beijing. It has the first Quanye Market in Beijing, the first photo studio in Beijing, and the earliest shopping mall in Beijing. The bathhouse has the earliest pickle garden opened in Beijing, the famous "Wang Zhihe" stinky tofu, and the world's largest KFC.

Damochang Street, located at the north exit of Dashilan, is not only the hardest-hit area among the residential areas of Dashilan, but also the commercial street among the commercial streets.

A few decades ago, various craftsmen gathered here, and there were various unique time-honored brands. It was once bustling with traffic, a unique sight in Beijing, and an endless stream of foreign tourists.

A few decades ago, you could sip a big bowl of tea here and enjoy the "Beijing flavor" in the hutong while shaking your head.

Everything only stays in the memories of the old and the imagination of the young.

When I set foot on Damochang Street again, except for the broken walls, empty houses, old people standing on the street corners, deserted alleys, and crooked wooden telephone poles, there were almost no time-honored brands. It's a sign that it's even colder here than the nearby Dashilan Street.

This is the first area where Beijing *** carries out municipal planning and renovation of dilapidated buildings in Dashilan, and it is also a key area.

If the West Damochang Street project goes smoothly, it will provide favorable conditions for the future reconstruction of Dashilar.

On the walls in the alley, you can see "A Letter to the Residents Relocating the Qianmen Area Municipal Road" everywhere. It is signed by the Qianmen Area Municipal Road Engineering Command Center. Papers of various colors are plastered all over the streets. There are "three ways...", "four ways...", and "five ways..." in the alleys, which seem to always give residents a sense of urgency.

In contrast, various house sales information is also posted on the streets and alleys with colorful papers.

The issue of relocation has been a hot topic among the residents who have not moved out these days. They count the deadlines on their fingers and can’t help but frowning.

"After living here for decades, the neighbors have developed feelings for each other. Who wants to move away!" Lao Liu, who smokes while squatting at the entrance of the alley, has been killing time in the alley these days, chatting with acquaintances when he sees them. When no one is around, I smoke by myself and reminisce about the past.

Aunt Huang, who is in her 60s, has never been willing to leave her home. When the demolition came, she burst into tears.

Everyone in their courtyard knew about this.

The reporter learned from the Xidamochangdaer Community Neighborhood Committee that the total original population of Xidamochang is nearly 10,000, and most of them have now moved out.

Director Sun of the neighborhood committee shook his head repeatedly, "You came too late. Everyone has moved away. Maybe if you come a few days later, the place will be in ruins."

" The houses here have a long history, and some are old houses from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Strictly speaking, they are all dilapidated houses."

Wang Shiren, director of the Beijing Institute of Ancient Architecture, said that the Dashilan neighborhood is the highest density of buildings in Beijing. It is the highest, one of the areas with the worst living conditions, the greatest fire hazards, and the most difficult traffic diversion.

However, those ancient customs, folk customs, and the cultural context of the capital are all integrated into these backward current conditions.

According to the introduction of local residents, the people living here are working class people with low incomes, laid-off workers are everywhere, and low-income households also occupy a certain proportion here.

Most of the residents are Beijing aborigines, most of whom are native old people who have witnessed the growth of New China and the rise and fall of Dashilar.

In a Yuchang courtyard that can accommodate more than 60 families, there are low houses everywhere, with chimneys scattered everywhere, and pots and pans piled in front and behind the houses. I don’t know how many layers have been peeled off. The walls are exposed to the adobe bricks inside, and there are all kinds of people living in the courtyard. Some even have a family of three living in a hut of less than 20 square meters with a plywood roof, which is even slightly tilted. The house is not very obvious in the messy compound. Only when you walk inside can you feel a shaky feeling. The owner said: "I am used to it."

After living for more than 50 years, I have never been worried. It will collapse."

Uncle Zhao, who is 79 years old, has lived here for 79 years and has become a part of the courtyard. "I am very familiar with everyone and everything here. , I even know whose flower pot has a new flower blooming, and whose family has a new person."

In a dark little room, Uncle Zhao was boiling water on the stove. There were two rooms in the house. , adding up to less than 20 square meters, walking into the house is like going back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Uncle Zhao said that this house was left over from the ancestors and has never been renovated. The walls and bricks that you touch are all intact from ancient times. "Authentic".

Uncle Zhao rarely turns on the lights on weekdays, in order to save electricity.

Only when you get used to the darkness in the house can you gradually identify the layout and furnishings of the house. Uncle Zhao placed his wife's photo on the table and wiped it every day.

One room in the house is Uncle Zhao's bedroom. The walls are covered with mold and exudes a musty smell. The cabinets and boxes next to it and the corners are covered with huge spider webs. The house has been dark for a long time, and occasionally turning on the light will scare flying insects. It is hard to imagine that this is a home where one person lives and sleeps. All that can be felt is a kind of emptiness, a kind of loneliness, and the presence of an elderly man. alone.

Uncle Zhao is very satisfied with his home. He has lived here since he was a child and now has four sons.

In his spare time, he began to repair his cabin.

He pointed to the window proudly, a so-called "window" covered with cardboard, with wind blowing "whooshing" next to it. This was repaired by Uncle Zhao himself two days ago.

"Thanks to the big hole next to the window, otherwise I might have passed away.

"Uncle Zhao fell down in this hut a month ago due to gas leaking from the boiling water. He fell to the ground and hit his head. Fortunately, his third son lived nearby and received timely treatment after discovering the situation. Uncle Zhao was able to get out of danger.

Uncle Zhao, who still wears a medical hood, is always worried about the medical expenses. He has been talking about the treatment fee of more than 300 yuan for several days.

Due to the relocation, the residents in Dashilar Hutong are all panic-stricken. Those who originally played mahjong stopped playing, and they all seemed to be waiting for the new situation to change.

You have to walk 400 meters down the street to buy food for cooking and cooking.

The public toilets in the street have also been left uncleaned. Residents living next to them said, "The smell is getting worse and worse, and there are actually flies flying in the house in winter."

When Lao Zhou, who was helping to glue the chimney next door, talked about this, he became energetic. He said: "Now the residents' front and back are affected.

" "Front" refers to eating, Lao Zhou pointed to The collapsed farmer's market said: "It used to be very convenient to buy vegetables here, but now it has been occupied by rag collectors. We have to walk a long way to buy vegetables."

"After" refers to the size of the residents. Every household does not have its own toilet, so it is only convenient to go to the toilet on the street. "Now it is being demolished, no one cleans the toilet, and the filth is piled up. We all stand on tiptoe to defecate.

" After saying that, Lao Zhou made two gestures.

Lao Zhou lives in Yixing Lane, Tamochang Street. He is over 50 years old this year. He was laid off and stayed at home. Helping old neighbors has become his main occupation.

The family of three is squeezed into a 30-square-meter house. Both husband and wife were laid off, and their son's job of moving coal is now their only source of livelihood.

Lao Zhou's house also has a history of a hundred years. The house is messy. When sleeping, he pulls up the curtain across the middle of the house and cuts the bed in half. This is how the three of them have been living.

What bothers Lao Zhou the most is rainy weather. When it rains, the house leaks. Although it has been repaired countless times, it is always blocked over there but not over here. When it rains, the whole family's washbasin leaks. The Zhou family has long been used to greeting each other at the same time, "ding ding dong dong".

Yixing Alley has 7 turns. When walking through the alley, if someone comes from the opposite side, you need to turn sideways to pass.

Looking at the two children playing in the alley, Lao Zhou said: "When I said goodbye, I really couldn't bear to leave this alley."

According to the local neighborhood committee, the relocation price is per person. 8,000 yuan per square meter. Residents living in hutongs and alleys often live in only about 30 square meters, and the cash they receive is only about 240,000 yuan.

This is one of the reasons why residents are dissatisfied. "It is basically impossible to buy a house in the city with 240,000 yuan. Many people would rather rent low-rent housing in the suburbs, and some have already moved to far away places." A foreign land, farewell to my hometown of Beijing

"Old Chen, who lives in a compound on Xidamodang Street, said angrily.

It is understood that Beijing ***’s municipal planning plans to widen Dashilan into a pedestrian commercial street, renovate dilapidated buildings, retain part of the original appearance of the ancient city, and set aside part for commercial development.

How to resolve the contradiction between the protection, reconstruction and development of the Dashilan area is currently the biggest focus.

This is also the issue that Wang Shiren is most worried about.

Did the final transformation of Dashilar go as planned? Where will this largest “slum” in Beijing go? I'm afraid these questions are not of interest to the residents of the old city who live here, grew up here, and have been deeply engraved here. The only thing everyone is asking is: Dashilar, will you disappear?