To the East of my apartment is a wonderful and rare thing in Beijing: an empty field. It's peaceful, serene and even has birds chirping in the morning. And since I face East I'm shielded from the noise of the massive hyper-busy third-ring road about 300m to the West. But that's all about to change, I think they're building a bunker in the field.
The old view of the new BTV (Beijing Television) tower. Hopefully the view won't be blocked.
Looking East, Pingguo Shequ apartment complex, translates to "Apple Community"
A peaceful and tranquil morning as seen from my window.
An exposure shot taken at night. looking NE
I always thought it was a bit strange that the entrance to the field has a "Military Restricted Zone" sign. I wasn't sure what it had to do with the military. I began to notice a lot of night activity in the field. Trucks coming to make deliveries at 4am, waking me up and stirring strong suspicions of conspiracy. Was there an underground nuclear test facility? Were they testing some strange hybrid plant that would be used to reduce smog? Why did a pair of two stray dogs live in the field?
Chinese for "Military Restricted Zone"
About a week ago, the big machines came in. There are now three or four excavators, and a pile of thick-gauge steel cable spools. They've begun excavating minor portions of the field (dismissing my hybrid plant theory), but continue to work at night (supporting my secret underground facilities theory).
The mysterious spools of steel cable, under wraps
I know it's easy to dismiss conspiracy theories. I mean, why would they do it all in plain-sight of my window? But the nighttime excursions thoroughly perplex me. I suppose it's all half-secret, half-open. After all, the buildings on the East of the field also have full view of the field, as well as all the apartments above me for 26 stories. I asked the guy who runs a little convenience store in the lobby of my building, and he told me they're constructing military buildings. I'm going to try to take some exposure shots at night when they're doing weird 4am digging.
My new view, which will be changing daily. I'll try to take regular shots and make a montage.
UPDATED PHOTOS - OCT 16th to 29th
DAY 2 DAY 4 DAY 6 DAY 9 DAY 9 later DAY 13 DAY 14 DAY 2-14 composite The tunnel-drilling crane just outside my window
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.
This is a collection of views from my apartment. Simple and plain. One thing I always enjoy about going to different cities is the general views from living establishments. Some of these are repeats from previous posts.
I'm going to continue to update this one as long as I keep taking different shots. Last updated: March 16th.
From my room
View from my balcony the day after it snowed.(big)
Night exposure shot. A little blurry and it wouldn't merge properly. (big)
To the northwest of Beijing is a range of large hills. From the city, they kind of look like mountains, but they also look like they're really far away. It's a bit deceiving, but all the same a nice touch, and quite a bit larger than anything you'll find near Toronto.
Beijing can be pretty foggy/smoggy/dusty/whatever. Sometimes the visibility is pretty crappy, and I'd been waiting for a nice clear day to check out the Hills. I got excited when it rained heavily all Saturday long, since last time it pseudo-rained (with the exception of Saturday, it doesn't really 'rain' here) the air was really clear on the following day. However, that rain turned into snow, and it snowed heavily through the night.
The snow was perfect snow-fight quality. I think the locals were too scared to challenge me.
The next day was a cold, snowy, overcast day... nowhere near the ideal weather I was looking for. But when I woke up on Monday morning, I saw the sun shining brightly through my window. I checked the weather, and the daily high was 2 degrees, which was good, cold means crisp and clear. I went out to my kitchen to look westward, and there they were, the "mountains" of Beijing. I was dead-tired, running on less than 5hrs of sleep, but my excitement was my espresso and I got ready to go.
The view that morning from our walkway on the 13th floor of my building. (big)
A zoomed in view, to highlight the "mountains". (big)
The Fragrant Hills was originally an empirial getaway, built in the 12th century and added to extensively in later centuries (more info here). There are three main areas: the base, the temple and the peak. The base has a bunch of nice pavillions, ponds, and trees. The Temple of Azure Clouds is a buddhist temple, full of stupas and bodhisattvas, however I didn't see it because I made the mistake of planning to see it after the climb. The peak is a 440m ascent, at the top of a series of stone stairs 2.1km long.
Firstly, I checked out the main grounds. There were some cool ponds and pavillions, enough said. Nothing mind-blowing though.
These can be found at pretty much every cultural site in China.
This led to a cool courtyard...
...in a parallel dimension.
Beautiful stonework.
This pavillion was nice. Looked like there should be a killer whale in it, but there were only a few carp. (big)Another view. (big) The fattest fish I've ever seen. It was swimming so slowly too. They get overfed by locals looking for tranquility... not sure how tranquil it will be when the fish begin to explode. It has been pointed out to me that she may be pregnant...
There were some quaint doorways here.
A cool pagoda.
I then undertook the climb. I'm not saying that it's really long and high, but it was good excercise, and I haven't exactly been doing many activities here. It took me a bit of mental effort. There are a number of midway stops, and each blocks the view of the top, and I kept thinking I had made it until I'd turn the corner and there was another stretch of upward-leading stairs. But I made it eventually. The journey was a mix of body heat and harshly cold winds, I kept removing and putting on my jacket. I saw one guy going up with no shirt on! When the winds kicked in, I suspect it was -5 or so around the stairs, and it became progressively colder as I approached the top.
Getting to the top was quite a relief, and the view was everything I imagined, making the trip well worth the while.
The structure at the peak. There was a little food-bar in there, to my relief. I had cucumber flavoured Lays... and they were damn good.
The view from that building, facing Beijing.
Looking W behind the outpost building.
That structure on the upper-right of the previous photo.
A video from under that structure.
The trail keeps going to all these other buildings in the distance. I was too tired to try my luck with those.
This may be the only picture I've had someone take of me in China so far, and I'm blinking... The westward view from my apartment at night when I got home. (big)
I'm going to go back to check the temple and attempt the climb again. It's nice to get out of the city, and the bus ride only costs 8mao (=0.8Y=$0.12). Essentially, it's free. Also, there are some nice trails through the pine forests there, and after a month breathing the Beijing air it was a welcome change.
An exposure shot taken at night. looking NE
DAY 13
DAY 14
DAY 2-14 composite
The tunnel-drilling crane just outside my window
DAY 13
DAY 14
DAY 2-14 composite
The tunnel-drilling crane just outside my window
