My new building
View Larger Map
The coloured routes are subway lines. The purple line is due to open in July, which will make life pretty convenient.
View Larger Map
The coloured routes are subway lines. The purple line is due to open in July, which will make life pretty convenient.
What will I miss?
I'll miss the elevator ladies whom I feel so badly for because they just sit and operate the elevator for 6 hour shifts when I could easily push the button myself. I'll miss the two minutes walk to the nearest roasted meat-on-a-stick (aka chuar). I'll miss our neighbourhood market where I can easily buy anything from plumbing fixtures to yoga mats. I'll even miss the craggy old ladies who wear arm bands and call themselves community police, and secretly want all foreigners from this area evicted. Well, they've kinda won.
Truth is, my move has two driving forces. I have wanted to move for a long time. Perhaps it's the image that my bathroom leaves on visitors (it's tragic really, combine fallen wall tiles exposing slightly moldy drywall with a god-awful but mysteriously fluctuating odour arising from the drain). Or perhaps the fact that I live in the West but I'm out in the East nearly every day, and my taxi fares get their own category in my budget sheet (yes, I keep a detailed account of my spendings and earnings, gives me excuses for why my money disappears so easily). Or maybe I just want a change.
But the secondary driving force is external to myself: our landlord wanted us out. And not because of an increase in rent, which she plans anyway and is becoming standard procedure in the pre-Olympics property value boom here. She wants us out because the police have been bugging her too much about foreigners living in a non-foreigner area. Yes I realize that to say non-foreigner area implies, nae informs that there are gov't sanctioned 'zones' for foreigners. And apparently the heat was too much, and she's sick of dealing with questions from the police.
Mostly though, I'll miss the view. My balcony overlooks the second ring road, a booming highway that always reminds me of the people that course through this metropolis. And across from that the completely transforming financial HQ of the capital of the country with the strongest economic growth ever. I don't hear the traffic when my balcony window and door are closed, but need only step a few feet to remind myself that I'm sitting centre in all of this. On the west I can see the great sprawl of Beijing, as it grows towards and ends at the mountains that protect us from the deep cold of Russia. And when the pollution/clouds/dust are not too strong, I can watch the sun inch it's way down and spell night for Beijing (which happens to be my favourite time of the day).
It's hard to romanticize pollution, but I will say this: living in such a city has enabled me to truly appreciate cleaner climes. When I had a holiday in Toronto recently, the change in air quality reminded me of that when I used to go from Toronto to the countryside. And I went to the countryside during my trip as well, so Beijing to Canadian countryside seemed an incalculable difference. I appreciated it more than I ever have.
Eastward views
Looking Eastward out my enclosed balcony.
The only snowfall in '07 that accumulated on the ground. In '08 there was also only one snowfall that accumulated, but it was in December. This photo was taken in March '07.
2nd ring road during a rainstorm
The traffic on 2nd ring is ever-present, even during the night
Westward views
Dusk on the westward front of Beijing
A semi-typical day. Haze factor maybe 8/10.
Clear and blue sunset. A bit rare.
It's nice to see blue. Clear factor: 8/10.
Clear factor: 9/10. An unusually clear day during which I could make a significant depth of the mountains.
Another pretty typical day. Haze factor: 7/10
CCTV (中央电视台, China Capital Television) broadcasting tower in the West end of the city.
Bears a resemblance to my beloved CN tower. It even has a revolving restaurant, though I've not been.
This is about as bad as it gets. See that little smudge in the middle? That's the sun. And it's not covered by clouds, that's dust and smog.
One day I was in my kitchen and I noticed this smoke. However it turned out to be but a single puff, not a stream of smoke. Since I often look out my window and have never seen smoke like this, and since it's over a residential area, my best guess is that a car exploded (got a better guess?)
This is the sun. Apparently it looks also doubles as Saturn.
The only snowfall in '07 that accumulated on the ground. In '08 there was also only one snowfall that accumulated, but it was in December. This photo was taken in March '07.
2nd ring road during a rainstorm
The traffic on 2nd ring is ever-present, even during the night
Westward views
Dusk on the westward front of Beijing
A semi-typical day. Haze factor maybe 8/10.
Clear and blue sunset. A bit rare.
It's nice to see blue. Clear factor: 8/10.
Clear factor: 9/10. An unusually clear day during which I could make a significant depth of the mountains.
Another pretty typical day. Haze factor: 7/10
CCTV (中央电视台, China Capital Television) broadcasting tower in the West end of the city.
Bears a resemblance to my beloved CN tower. It even has a revolving restaurant, though I've not been.
This is about as bad as it gets. See that little smudge in the middle? That's the sun. And it's not covered by clouds, that's dust and smog.
One day I was in my kitchen and I noticed this smoke. However it turned out to be but a single puff, not a stream of smoke. Since I often look out my window and have never seen smoke like this, and since it's over a residential area, my best guess is that a car exploded (got a better guess?)
This is the sun. Apparently it looks also doubles as Saturn.
