Bringing back grandeur
Feng Jianhua

A smile was written all over Yao Yunlang’s face when he talked about his newly renovated house. “The wood and brick structure is well kept, so are the doors decorated with assorted carved flowers,” said Yao, “This is too good to be true.” Yao lives in downtown Xi’an City, capital of Shaanxi Province. Yao inherited the house, built in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), from his grandfather. Many old houses have been demolished during waves of economic development in the downtown area. Yao’s house was spared because of its cultural value. Cultural heritage experts found that the structure and decoration of the house epitomized the era it was built in, and recommended the government to keep it. Yao was glad that his house was not torn down, but the house was in such poor condition that it might tumble down. He could not afford to renovate the place. Lacking modern amenities, the house offered little comfort beyond a roof.
Pilot projects
Yao got lucky in 2005 when Xi’an launched a “Royal City Restoration Plan,” which was to return the city to its grandeur during the prosperous Tang Dynasty (618-907). The municipal government would increase its spending on the preservation and restoration of old residential areas. Architecture speaks of the style of a city. Xi’an is a city with a long history and many stories. He Hongxing, head of Xi’an City Planning Bureau said, “Reconstructing the old residential compounds is an important part of our efforts in restoring the architecture of the city and preserving our cultural heritage.”
In 2007, Xi’an Municipal Government invested 5.6 million yuan ($778,000) in four residential restoration pilot projects. Yao’s house was listed in the projects. The houses will retain their antique look, but will be equipped with modern facilities. “We will bring modern life to the residents in these ancient houses. Water, power, heating, gas and communication networks will be provided to the houses,” He explained. Wu Chun, an official in Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage, revealed that two of the pilot projects have been completed, and the remaining two are close to completion. Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage has finished a questionnaire survey and land survey in the old residential neighborhoods. “We have submitted to the municipal government a working plan based on findings from our pilot projects. Once the plan is approved, the comprehensive restoration project will kick off,” Wu told Beijing Review.
Residential heritage
Xi’an, known as Chang’an in ancient China, was the capital city for several dynasties. It was one of the birthplaces of Chinese culture and the starting point of the Silk Road, which was a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that stretched to Europe and were central to cultural interaction between peoples along their length. Most of the houses in the historical residential neighborhood were built in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China (1912-1949), while a small number of them were built in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The quadrate courtyards in Xi’an are a little bit different from those in Beijing. A typical courtyard in Beijing has one yard, while a typical one in Xi’an is a complex of several connecting yards. These remaining ancient courtyards were usually owned by rich businessmen or officials, and were decorated elaborately. One hundred meters from the Bell Tower at the center of Xi’an City is a historical Muslim district. The neighborhood has 54 hectares and 60,000 residents. The area has 20,000 Muslims and 10 mosques of various shapes and colors. Number 125 Huajue Alley in this neighborhood is a courtyard combining traditional Chinese and Muslim styles. The current owner of this 256-square-meter courtyard, An Shouxin is a Muslim in his 70s. Eight generations of An’s family has lived in the house. In 1985, a professor from Norway visited the Muslim district in Xi’an, and was taken by the place. With the professor’s efforts, China and Norway signed an agreement in 1997, and Norway pledged to fund dozens of programs in China, including the restoration of the Muslim district in Xi’an. Norway invested about 4.8 million yuan ($667,000) in the restoration of No.125 Huajue Alley. The project won the 2002 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
Dwindling neighborhood
Rapid economic development and population growth have crowded out some historical residential quarters. Statistics show that the area of historical residential quarters in Xi’an has dwindled to 30 percent of that in the 1980s. Among the 30 historical residential houses that the Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage and other government departments put under protection in 1993, half are gone. Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage initially planned to put 102 historical residential houses under protection, now the number has been reduced to 80, Wu Chun told Beijing Review. Ill-defined property rights and a poor legal framework regarding the protection of historical residential areas have hampered conservation, according to Xiang De, Deputy Director of Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage. The current law does not specify whether residents can demolish, restructure or expand their houses. To improve their living conditions, some residents have torn down their old houses and replaced them with modern ones with better facilities. Others have added new structures to the old house to make their place more spacious. Sustainable commercial development On June 24, 2004, Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage submitted to the local government a Plan on the Protection of Historical Residential Neighborhoods. Xi’an Municipal Government commissioned experts to hold hearings on the plan, and listed the protection of historical residential neighborhoods on its agenda.
“Historical residential neighborhoods and cultural sites are irreplaceable resources. If we fail to protect them, we will betray our ancestors and future generations,” Yuan Chunqing, Governor of Shaanxi Province remarked thoughtfully after visiting the traditional residential neighborhoods. Xi’an Municipal Government took the suggestion from Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage, and expressed that it would earmark funds and raise funds from society to restore historical residential neighborhoods. Historical courtyards with high cultural values would be recorded into an archive.
Now, Xi’an Municipal Government has established a project group on the protection of historical residential neighborhoods. The project group is comprised of experts in the fields of urban planning, cultural heritage, architecture and law. The group will ascertain the value of historical residential neighborhoods, conduct feasibility studies and make renovation plans. Xi’an Administration of Cultural Heritage will announce the schedule that each historical residential neighborhood or courtyard will be put under protection. The first phase of the renovation project is expected to be complete in 2011. Preservation of historical residential neighborhoods is costly. At present, the lion’s share of the cost of preservation is born by the Municipal Government of Xi’an, although domestic and foreign organizations or individuals are encouraged to invest in heritage protection. The cost of protection is not a small burden for the local government. Xi’an is exploring a combination of heritage protection and commercial development. Number 144 Beiyuanmen is Gao Yuesong’s former residence, built more than 400 years ago. Gao was a famous artist in the Ming Dynasty. The 0.3-hectare courtyard is a complex of three yards, with 86 rooms.
In 1990s, preliminary maintenance was performed on the courtyard. Later, the local government decided to overhaul Gao Yuesong’s former residence and open it to the public. Xi’an Institute of Chinese Painting was entrusted with the management and development of the estate. The original look was kept intact during the renovation; even the old bricks were indexed and reused. After the surgery, the historical estate was opened to the public in 2004, and has become a popular site of historical interest. In 2007, approximately 300,000 tourists visited Gao’s estate. Many entertaining activities have been hosted in the yard, including shadow puppet performances, ancient music concerts, pottery making and brick carving.

(The Daily Mail-Beijing Review Articles Exchange Item)



Kosovo & Palestine: Why different standards?
Walid M. Awad

IN July 2000, President Clinton, at the insistence of Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak, invited President Arafat and Barak to Camp David. In less than two weeks of intensive negotiations, Clinton expected Arafat and Barak to arrive at a solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Incomplete progress was achieved at Camp David, but an agreement was not.
Follow-up negotiations resumed in the months ahead, and by January 2001 an agreement was reached, but as far as Clinton and Barak were concerned, it was too late. Clinton evacuated the White House, and Barak lost the elections in Israel. Ariel Sharon, who worked relentlessly to sabotage all peacemaking efforts between Israel and the PLO after Oslo, assumed office in Israel and the intifada against the Israeli occupation intensified. Much blood has been spilled since then, but two more nonofficial “peace” agreements between Israelis and Palestinians were worked out — the Geneva agreement between Yaser Abed Rabbo and Yossi Beilin, and another one between Sari Nussiebeh, currently head of Al-Quds University, and Ami Ayalon, a minister in the current Israeli government. Outlines, frameworks, and parameters, call them what you wish, for solving the conflict were reached between the sides after Oslo, but never formally or officially adopted or signed.
In November 2004 when President Arafat died, one very significant Palestinian era came to a close, and a new one arrived. Mahmoud Abbas, a veteran Palestinian leader, peacemaker and a fervent supporter of a negotiated peace settlement with Israel, was elected as the president of the Palestinian National Authority. He was also the chairman of the PLO. For almost two years President Abbas was “no peace partner” to Israel. But his consistent peace efforts finally produced some results when the international community, particularly the United States and Europe, pressed the new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to reconsider Israel’s position and resume negotiations with the PLO. No less than nine trips made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East led to last November’s Annapolis conference. In addition to Abbas, Olmert, and President George W. Bush, representatives of more than 90 countries attended the conference. There were high hopes that the conference would lead to the resumption of peace talks between Israel and Palestinians. But hopes have faded and pessimism has taken its place.
Some, however, do not believe the situation is as bad as it appears, and put forward different interpretations of what is going on. They believe something substantial is being cooked in secrecy behind closed doors. More than twenty meetings between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators took place over the last few weeks, five summit meetings between Abbas and Olmert, and President George W. Bush made a visit to the region. Is it possible that nothing in this period was achieved? According to Israeli TV Channel 2 commentators, progress on different core issues was made, and “Olmert and Abbas are cooking the chicken and are hiding it in the freezer because the table is not ready for the meal. Ahmad Qurie and Mahmoud Abbas on one side, Olmert and Livni on the other side can’t reveal what has been achieved in the negotiations.” However, to Palestinian ears, the above interpretation by Israeli commentators is deceiving, if not altogether false, because: First, Israel is continuing to build Jewish settlements in Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.
Second, using Shas’ threats to bolt the government as an excuse, Israel refuses to conduct negotiations on comprehensive core issues and endlessly stretches negotiations. This tactic is well known to Palestinians. They remember how Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, during the Madrid conference in 1991, threatened to stretch negotiations with the Palestinians for tens of years. Shamir’s threats are the realities of today. Third, and this is the most important reason, our history with Israel’s compliance with signed agreements (such as the Oslo Accords, signed in the open with superpowers as witnesses) was never honored. How can an agreement negotiated in secret between the sides be honored by Israel at an unknown future date? The sad reality is that the meal Israeli commentators referred to is spoiled. If, in July 2000, President Clinton thought an agreement between the sides could be reached in less than two weeks, and if parameters for a solution were negotiated and in place since January 2001, why is it necessary to wait until the end of 2008 to see if a solution can be found? The only conclusion is that without real and serious international intervention to pressure Israel to come to its senses, and arrive at a just and comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinian people quickly, the whole situation will explode sooner or later, particularly if a serious military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah takes place. The mutually exchanged threats between both sides are an indication of what is to be expected in the not too distant future. If the military conflagration erupts, any negotiations taking place now between Olmert and Abbas will be no more than an academic exercise leading to nowhere.—Arab News





Knitting together life’s moments
Elissa Ely

THERE’S a wonderful knitting store in my neighbourhood. It’s a large room with a few tables pushed end to end, like a variant of King Arthur’s court. The owner sits serenely in the middle of half-finished sweaters and dropped purls. She remembers every project each customer has begun. Visiting her is a life pleasure. Here is another life pleasure: Twice a year or so, I take my dog to the vet. For 20 years, some family pet or other has been a patient of his. One day, while he was washing his hands after seeing my cats, he started to talk about the health problems of his own pets. It was as if I had been knighted after all those fur balls. Now our appointments are reunions, little joys, even though the dog still dreads them.
Incidental intimacies fill the day: The knitting store owner, the vet, a likable colleague, my dentist discussing a recipe with himself over my open mouth, the parents of other children encountered on playgrounds, a neighbour of many years I mean to invite for dinner. All of them are happenstance encounters that come to be counted on over time. My mother always said it was important to coordinate colours before decorating a room. But these are random fabrics thrown together by fate. Through the years, you grow used to chintzes and polka dots. They bring swaths of colour. One day, you realise these fabrics are the whole colourful world. In the dim light of February, I find myself looking ahead. There is plenty to fear about old age — indignity, illnesses of memory, a body no longer under command. But I fear losing the encounters of my settled life.
As I picture it, the swaths of colours begin to fade away; one by one, or, if the situation is catastrophic, all at once. Life narrows — a move to assisted living, a nursing home, a different city nearer the sun. With luck, family is close by. But the incidental people are gone. It’s like entering a bunker. A few survivalists I know, still in their prime, are plotting their defence; hunched over blueprints, they dream of retirement utopias where they will grow old with friends of their choosing. They don’t understand it’s not only friends who colour the world. I don’t say much to the man who has doled out $20 of regular gas every Tuesday for many years, yet our meetings are a lovely shade of fuschia. They clash a little with the dog walker, whose visits are green as grass, and one of the neighbours who is a recessive bronze, but I am not my mother, and I love when the palette runs together.
I guess we rehearse the losses to come in little ways — childhood comrades fall off, boyfriends marry and move elsewhere, colleagues take jobs in distant states, correspondence becomes holiday cards becomes silence. People drift away but stay in sight for a while, waving gently so we don’t notice when they disappear. Sometimes these incidental intimacies come to consciousness, where I can peer at them. My heart swells when the dentist discusses his recipes, though my teeth aren’t very interested. But usually, I take them for granted. When the sun is shining, it never occurs that they won’t last forever. A while ago, a college friend gave some stern advice — when you are old, he warned, be sure to surround yourself with young people. He views them as an antidote to the hazards of self-centered aging. As a result, he is stockpiling acquaintances decades younger than him. It is a deliberate strategy to animate and keep him alive.

—Khaleej Times