2024-05-07T03:50:32-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/37605798/zhongnanhai-protected-by-demolished Nam Henderson 2012-02-10T17:25:00-05:00 >2012-02-16T10:16:03-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/sh/shw0g5sfzda0cyk6.jpeg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>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.</p></em><br /><br /><p> Prompted by <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/37168080/the-destruction-of-24-beizongbu-hutong" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the recent destruction of 24 Beizongbu Hutong</a> 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&rdquo;.</p>