Expats
History, havoc in a hutong household
By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-24 11:43
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"Retro meets chaos in a haphazard way."
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 Dominic Johnson-Hill, who has lived in a courtyard home near Nanluoguxiang for almost six years, says living in a hutong suits his family well. Du Lianyi |
This is how Dominic Johnson-Hill describes his homely hutong household stuffed in a side street between the bars and boutiques of Nanluoguxiang.
The 37-year-old UK entrepreneur and owner of Plastered T-shirts lives with his wife and three daughters in one of China's most historic hutong courtyards, neighboring the home once occupied by one of the archeologists who helped discover the Peking man.
Supposedly rennovated in 2001 by a well-known Chinese member of the Beijing art community, Johnson-Hill moved into the 120-square-meter home in 2004. It is one of a handful of Nanluoguxiang homes that boast two stories, rather than being a typical one-story abode.
Standing in the courtyard outside his home, it's easy to think that it's been occupied by a Chinese family of years past. But stepping into the living room, dodging a few scattered toys and passing a large stack of coal, the difference is almost instantly recognizable. Lining almost every wall of every room are retro or soon retro pieces of China's past and present.
From modern-day propaganda posters to an eclectic stockpile of old lamps, from the collection of Mao Zedong clocks next to his bedside to bright Dongbei cloth hanging from the ceiling of his daughter's room, Johnson-Hill's home contains a medley of souvenirs he has collected over his 18-year stay in China.
Each of the six rooms in his home has a unique personality, starting with the color of the walls.The living room walls radiate mauve red. The room is decorated with wood furniture and photos of experiences in China. It is a swirl of stimuli with each turn of the head.
"The more something seems out of place, the more I like where it's at," Johnson-Hill said.
The pride of his collection, a poster depicting a glowing green hillside and a bright blue sky marked with characters preaching a peaceful, green Olympics, hangs at the far end of the living room and is lit up by lamps. The poster was given to Johnson-Hill by the local community government at his request.
"It's uplifting to walk into the dark room and instantly see the bright landscape," he said.
It's his collections of mementos, most of which were bought for a mere fraction of their value before China's retro movement gained momentum, that display Johnson-Hill's ability to see art where others may see rubbish.
"I love collecting things others see no value in. I don't have to wait the twenty years or so it takes for something to be retro before seeing its artistic value," he said.
His favorite room is the former master bedroom now occupied by two of his daughters. Although the walls are plain white, Johnson-Hill said the room is his favorite because it's not only the brightest of the house, but also reminds him of the hostels he used to stay in while traveling as a youth.
"When it used to be the master bedroom, I would wake up to the sun shining in and the birds chirping and think I was in a hostel," he said.
Continuing the theme of "retro-chaos", the room is stuffed with bits and pieces of old Chinese ceramics, lit up by a row of windows at the top of a wall. But, it's the brightly patterned cloth, he said, from China's northeastern provinces that hang from the ceiling that pulls the room together.
"No one ever thinks to decorate the ceiling, but something as simple as putting cloth on it adds a completely different element to the room," he said.
Completing the odd dcor of the room are more than a dozen random light bulbs on wires, none functional, hanging sporadically across the ceiling. The lightbulbs are a legacy from the previous owner, who used them in designing different types of lamps and chandeliers.
Johnson-Hill says the chaos of the room reflects the disorderly reality of the world, something he wants his daughters to learn at a young age.
"The world is not an orderly place and I don't want to mislead my daughters into thinking that it is," he said.
In addition to his unique dcor, Johnson-Hill said the hutong lifestyle suits his family perfectly. One of the biggest advantages of raising a family in the hutong is the sense of community shared throughout the courtyard, something rarely experienced in apartment blocks, he said.
"It's nice living in the shared courtyard with other families who help you look after your children," he said. "Our doors are all open."
