Urbanization – Debunking Myths of China

Urbanization of Chinese Villages After Cultural Revolution

ghauver / April 7, 2014May 6, 2015 / Urbanization

By Michael Tan, Claire Mathon and Tommy Hauver

After the catastrophic Cultural Revolution eventually ended in 1976, China began to regain its vitality under the lead of the new government. Chinese economy has been growing at tremendous pace each year ever since the reforming and opening up policies were established in 1978. It is obvious that this development in economy has resulted in the mass urbanization in rural areas. The villages have been so much better off due to changing the type of economy in order to fit in the new lifestyle in more urbanized areas.

The ancient village of Fenghuang is one of the villages that benefited the most from urbanization. The urbanization took place in 2001, where the local authority decided to make good use of its splendid views to turn it into a tourism-specified city. This process was extremely successful, where the annual number of tourists increased from 576,000 to 4,859,500 in 2009, and annual income from tourism increased from 74,000,000 yuan (about 12,333,333 dollars) to 2,609,000,000 yuan (about 434,833,333 dollars). (Zhou, 2011) These dramatic data definitely reveals the great benefits of urbanization; however, urbanization is also causing potential problems to the urbanized area.

The ancient town of Fenghuang https://www.flickr.com/photos/freecu/5591385449/

Behind the gigantic economic growth in Fenghuang, newly emerged problems draws a shade over the bright future of this city. Traditional landscape was the worst drawbacks of urbanization. As the number of tourists increased by a great amount, more and more souvenir shops were set up, which took over numerous ancient folk houses. Meanwhile, more and more contacts between Fenghuang and more developed cities caused some traditional customs and productions to disappear due to the new and more urbanized lifestyle. (Zhou, 2011)

In Fenghuang, urbanization seems to have more drawbacks in the long term than the benefits in the short term because of its harm to the culture itself. So should urbanization be strictly controlled in order to maintain the social welfare? In contrast, the transition in Xizhou, Yunnan is much milder and more sustainable. Xizhou is a village which was ruled by the Bai ethnic minority group, which was known for its handcraftsmanship and tourism. Unlike urbanization that took place in Fenghuang, the transition to a more industrialized society in Xizhou successfully transformed from an agricultural oriented village to a business oriented city. At the same time, its unique culture was enforced, which credited the Bai people’s accurately realizing the tourists’ need and quickly adapt the new style of production within their traditional production (Yang, 2012). This makes Xizhou a good example of a village undergoing urbanization in China.

Girls in traditional Bai costume. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fangyang/4368030626/

If urbanization makes progress under its capability, instead of blindly pursuing economic achievement, it will bring the maximized benefit to the nation and will strengthen the culture and unique tradition of the villages it is affecting.

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Urbanization: Chinese Cultural Revolution

cmathon / April 7, 2014May 6, 2015 / Cultural Revolution, Urbanization

By Claire Mathon, Tommy Hauver and Michael Tan

Many societies undergo events that have profound effects on their culture. In China, this event is regarded as the Cultural Revolution. Between 1965 and 1976, Mao attempted to reassert his authority over China through implementation of his beliefs because he feared that China was moving in an inegalitarian direction. Mao was heavily influenced by similar events in the Soviet Union and made the decision to move toward a more ideologically pure society, as the Soviets did. (Cultural).

The objective of the Cultural Revolution was to get rid of old ideas and customs in order to make education, art, and literature more in line with Communist ideology. Anything that displayed feudal or bourgeois ideals was destroyed. Mao was essentially attempting to create a society in which there was no gap between urban and rural, rich and poor, and laborers and intellectuals. (Cultural Revolution)

In an effort to close this gap, many young Chinese were sent from cities to work in the countryside. In fact, the Chinese government ordered that one teenager from every urban household move to the countryside to work on the farms. (CNN: Tracy You) This deprived many young people from receiving educations in the city. Interestingly enough, this period of time in China showed an extreme urban-to-rural migration, or reverse migration, for the Chinese youth. However, soon after the Cultural Revolution, urban populations began to increase again due to an increase in employment opportunities in cities. (Britannica: Consequences of the Cultural Revolution)

This photo was taken in 1967 and shows two Chinese citizens being branded as “Capitalist Roader” and subjected to physical abuse in front of the public. Source

Photo taken by 蒋少武 (translation: Shaowu Jiang)

It is estimated that 1.5 million people were killed during the Cultural Revolution and millions of others suffered from imprisonment, torture, and humiliation. (Cultural) The long-term effects of the Revolution are still prevalent in China today, particularly in Chinese villages. The traditional village social structure was severely affected. Peasants were encouraged to seize landlords’ fields and other property, which was an effort by the government to strengthen support from the poor. Land was distributed equally among all social classes, and in the process, all traditions of the villages’ social structure were lost. The Cultural Revolution paved the way for urbanization, which ultimately transformed village culture. People were forced to move to cities because they could no longer sustain themselves in the villages. They left behind their history, their tradition, and their legacy because the country made such a dramatic shift toward a more urbanized society.

Remnants of a banner from the Cultural Revolution in Anhui Province. Photo taken by: Chang Liu

Before and After the Beijing Olympics: Physical Change

mbaker2 / April 7, 2014May 6, 2015 / Environment, Sports, Urbanization

By M. Baker

When the selection of the city of Beijing as the host city for the 2008 Olympics was announced on July 13, 2001, it sparked a wave of excitement across China and marked a new period of change for the city. This period of change before the 2008 Olympics transformed the city in many ways, but perhaps the biggest changes for the city came in the form of a transformed skyline and new infrastructure.

Prior to the selection of Beijing as an Olympic host city, the physical landscape of Beijing was similar to many other cities across China. Buildings were either old holdovers from dynasties past or distinctly utilitarian high-rises built in the communist era when waste and extravagance was severely frowned upon. These communist-era buildings were often bland and made of brick or stone or other cheap materials.

For the Beijing Olympics, government officials strove to present Beijing as a truly international city. In order to fulfill this goal, Chinese government officials embarked on a huge campaign to change the landscape of Beijing in several ways. First, they set about improving the overall infrastructure of the city: hundreds of miles of subway lines were added, the airport was expanded and updated, and new facilities for the Olympics were built, including the Water Cube and the famous Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Next, the Chinese government decided to preserve—at least artificially—some distinctly Chinese structures from the pre-communist era as a tribute the China’s past. This move was vastly different from the previous actions of the government in the communist era, who tended to emphasize progress over cultural history—see the Cultural Revolution.

Finally, new development and architectural innovation was strongly encouraged as China attempted to turn Beijing into a truly international city akin to New York, London, or Paris. Buildings were made to impress and show “face” for China: the new National Theatre, the Bird’s Nest Stadium, the Water Cube, and the CCTV building are all examples of this new age of Chinese architecture that came about because of the preparations for the 2008 Olympics.

The Beijing National Stadium, a.k.a. “the Bird’s Nest” during the Olympic Ceremonies, 2008.
(“国家体育场,” by 老黄瓜/nPhoto.net/licensed with CCBY 2.0)

Overall, Beijing was radically transformed physically for the Olympics. These changes have had a lasting impact on Beijing, particularly because of the new infrastructure and new skyline filled with modern, architecturally distinct buildings. However, some argue that the changes made for the Olympics have not done much for the city. In an article for The New York Times, Michael Wines details how the flagship stadiums built for the Olympics stand mostly empty four years later: “By most accounts, the vendors hawking trinkets outside the stadium outnumber the foreigners who go there to gawk.”

On the other hand, most residents of Beijing had positive feelings for the changes brought about because of the Olympics: even Grandma Gao, a woman who had previously lived in a hutong village within Beijing and was forcibly relocated to make room for the new National Stadium, reported that her life had “changed for the better”.

The changes brought about by the Olympics have drastically transformed Beijing, even years after the Olympics. While the urgency for such change has slowed, today Beijing continues to change its landscape in its continuing quest to present the best “face” to the world.