About 200 meters east of his doorstep, behind a high red wall under the perennial watch of large, uniformed men in unmarked vans, was Zhongnanhai, a sprawling, closed compound home to the offices and reception halls of the central leadership of China. "They must have run out of space," Sun said, flicking away his cigarette. — The Atlantic
Prompted by the recent destruction of 24 Beizongbu Hutong Jonathan Kaiman examines the preservation challenges faced by Beijing's hutongs. Specifically, the historic neighborhoods adjacent to Zhongnanhai, a sprawling, closed compound home to the offices and reception halls of the central leadership of China, have since 2005 become a demolition and construction zone. All this despite being listed on the Beijing City Master Plan, passed in 2005, as a demolition-safe "historical and cultural protected area”.
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