Last month I contributed both video and stills for a New York Times article on the potential redevelopment of the Gulou area immediately surrounding the Drum and Bell Towers (see my previous post for more details). Fortunately it seems like the project has been shelved. While newspapers like the Telegraph report that the project was halted due to pressure from preservation organizations such as the Beijing Cultural Heritage Project, it was most likely stalled due to the Chongwen and Dongcheng district governments merging this summer. Although this part of Gulou might be safe for now, the northwest corner pictured above was already destroyed this past year to make way for a new transportation center. This problem will not go away as many development projects still threaten the last remaining hutong areas in the city.
