Scenes of China

Beijing,  after 2008



My life in Beijing ended in the winter of 2004. I have lived there for two years with my family, and that was when I was an elementary school kid. I have never visited Beijing since then, but the city had always been in my heart all the time. This year was the first time I have visited Beijing ever since the great, dynamic 2008 Olympics. I have always heard from many of my Chinese friends that Beijing had literally reformed itself after holding the big event, but I never knew it'd be really different. In this essay I'd like to talk about the changes I've seen with my own eyes.



Airport greets me



I was firstly astonished by the airport that I arrived. It was the new airport that I had never seen before. It was H-U-G-E, and I could see the the interior was all about harmonizing the western looks and traditional Chinese designs. There were huge duty free shops and starbucks coffee, and in contrast to that, red flowered designs that symbolizes China was displayed. It was a definite joy to see the country trying itself to advertise its own cultural values and also accepting the global values.





New Buildings and Better Transportation



During my trip I was astonished by new buildings that were in Beijing- the great numbers of new buildings, shopping malls and department stores built there. It was a definately different outlook of streets. But ironically, I could also see that many of the malls were empty and unused. They were clean alright, but there was not one person using the malls. Most of the people I think, were foreigners just like me. The transportation systems also surprised me far. Subway stations had become a variety and the system was much more clearer for foreigners to use. Back in 2002 when I first arrived there, it was almost impossible for the foreigners and non-Chinese speakers to use the subway- everything seemed difficult and risky. But today, stations have increased, and the trains have become much cleaner and comfortable. I used subway most of the times throughout the trip, which was really interesting and made me feel like a local Chinese person. In addition,taxis have become better. Although I communicated in Chinese with the, I heard that many foreigners don't have much difficulty communicating with them in English. Back in 2002, taxis varied in 2 different types. One was 1.2RMB (1.2 RMB per mile or something) and the other was 1.6 RMB, but now there were only 2.0RMBS. Taxis have obviously become quite expensive, but they were also clean, big and comfortable. Buses vary, usually the buses that go around places in central city of Bejing like WangFuJing or TianAnMen Square seemed very clean and new, while those that travel around the suburbs seemed a bit old and dirty.



People are the hope, people do not changeb}



When I made out my plans for Beijng, I was concerned about how the city would be so westernized. Afterall, China is one of the world's biggest economy, and I assumed that there would be a lot of Western influence. We got to HongKong, Seoul, Tokyo...and we see the same big buildings, luxurious malls and glittering department stores... and I didn't want to see any more of that. I wanted to see Beijing, and I didn't want it to get lost. Although inconvenient sometimes, I missed the old smell of China, something that seems very foggy yet familiar. And when I went there, I felt that the smell remained. And despite the fact that many new shopping malls have arrived in the city too, people still were the same. Chinese people were still confident, candid and approachable. FuWuYuans who tries to catch foreigners to buy clothes in their own shop were still there- and beggars who look for fod in the rubbish bin were still there too. Rather, I was relieved. I just didn;t want that to change- that's the color of China.