Great Contrasts

 What first hits you about Beijing is all the amazing contrasts co-existing right next to or even right on top of each other.  Walking down the street, you might see the newest model BMW speed around 3 girls piled on what looks like a wobbly, home welded bike. Coming up from a subway tunnel you may pop up to see old traditional style buildings slowly and steadily falling apart.  Across from which are huge ultra luxury malls housing only the finest stores from around the world. Despite extensive parks and bike lanes which I would estimate around 20% of the population uses, there is still a major air pollution problem. For visitors, at certain times of the year, the pollution can prove extremely uncomfortable if not unbearable. You may be saying to yourself we have a lot of these types of contrasts in our country too…  Yes it’s true but in the States we are somehow more segregated. Driving from city to town you feel the move from sophistication and education to perhaps something less refined. Suburbs may round to slums but a very rich person doesn’t usually build next door to people living in a shack. In Beijing people of very obviously, physically different, socioeconomic status are all visible at the same glance. It’s kind of a trip to see, because you DO notice it right away.  I think what it is, is that you can clearly and easily see an individual’s class. There is no middle class to help blur the lines, it’s all mixed together in the same city. I enjoyed the juxtaposition because your brain wants to label for itself what type of environment you are in. Am I in a first world or third world city? Ultimately you are simultaneously in both.

Only the best

Time to spend some cash!

Modern bus along side bike trailer

Nearby slum

Infamous alley

Wangfujing is one of luxury districts in the city, recognized by not one but four or five top of the line shopping malls and innumerable fancy hotels. Following an alley between two malls Jon and I found a ton of great stands selling locally made crafts, which of course I found more intriguing than any type of mall. Continuing down the rows, we stumbled upon people digging through the trash for food, whom by the way, were not homeless (there aren’t really any there), and trash being dumped out right next to where food was being served. My macho ABC boyfriend is the number one boaster of his Chinese heritage, and never misses a chance to tell me how great things are in China compared to the US (ahem, the last time he was in China he was 13). The poor poor darling found himself wincing in disgust and uttering under his breath ‘how can people live like this!’  Of course, I found it to be off putting as well but didn’t dare say that. Instead I chuckled silently, smiled widely and said ‘What? You can’t hack it true Chinese style?’ Don’t worry, he survived and in less than five minutes we were sitting in a mall food court sipping lattés.