Local officials in Beijing promised to furtherprotect the city's cultural heritage  , in particular the narrow streets known as Hutong. Hutong are commonly found in the cities of North China, but they are at risk. Beijingis currently believed to have fewer than 1,000 Hutong, most of which are nearthe Forbidden City. Only 60 years ago, thenumber was 3,250. In the old districts of Dongcheng and Xicheng, which cover 62square kilometers, some people will be asked to move from Hutong houses toavoid further damage to the ancient architecture. "On average more than 100,000 people visit the Forbidden City during the National Day holidays. Thevisits put pressure on the protection of cultural relics," said Huang Yan,director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, adding that Hutongshould be protected from human damage. The government focused on how the protection planswere carried out and how the management of cultural heritages worked. WangShaofeng, head of the Xicheng district government, said the area has 182cultural relics, many of which were built as far back as the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368). The district of Xicheng has 1.28 million residents in its 57square kilometers of land. "The most efficient way is to decrease the localpopulation to reduce the possibility of causing harm to the heritage," Wangsaid. "Each community has been required to report thestatus of its cultural heritage, especially Hutong, and any actions to damagethe heritage will be punished," Wang said. No one knows for sure how many Hutong will be leftin the coming 100 years. What will happen to Hutong in the nearfuture?
Only time will tell. No one will remember it. The number will begrowing. Hutong will disappearcompletely.