Beginning in Beijing

We’d heard a lot about Beijing before we left London; mainly as the subject of much derision for its over-pollution, overpopulation, and over-demolition. But for us it was nothing if not a pleasant surprise.

True, the legendary traffic fumes choke the sunlight so you rarely see more than a haze over ”Old Peking” (you wake up coughing as if you’d smoked a packet of Benson and Hedges the night before) but despite this and the enormous scale of the place, which perhaps only dedicated urban dwellers can really enjoy, Beijing is one of the most relaxed capital cities I have ever been to.


Even the ubiquitous Tianannmen Square scammers aren’t very savvy in the grand scheme of things: we met a few travellers who had managed to scam them right back. Still, the vast majority of people treat westerners as somewhere between minor celebrities and the subject of much hilarity: we frequently turned around to find ourselves suddenly the subject of a group photograph - no questions asked!


Wandering through the Hutongs, its easy to see how the old style of Chinese living is disappearing very quickly in the name of ‘progress’, and with it much of the community feeling that living cheek-by-jowl demands. But that said, when traditional Hutongs lack basic sanitation, and whole families are living in rooms no larger than a double bedroom, perhaps progress really is the only way forward. Either way, the decision has been made. It ain’t pretty, but Beijing is now a thoroughly modern city.