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Demolitions spark outrage in historic Beijing

The demolition of a supposedly protected section of Beijing's old city began this week, AFP reported on Wednesday, triggering renewed outrage over the demise of the Chinese capital's historic courtyards and alleyways.

The homes in Beijing’s Dongsi Batiao are being razed to make way for a new residential development.

State media have seized on the destruction of the site, in an officially protected cultural preservation district, as an example of official failure to protect hutongs from an ongoing property boom.

"Municipal authorities must not play the indifferent onlooker when the city’s cultural history is being squandered," an editorial in the state-run China Daily newspaper said on Wednesday.

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photo by Xiaming