A Different Beijing
I first came to Beijing in 2005 and spent the next six years studying at Central Conservatory of Music , which is located at the southwestern corner of second ring of Beijing city. In other word, very close to the city center — the forbidden city. I always cycled to Tian An Men Square in midnight because it is the quietest moment, to enjoy the majestic scenery without the traffic noise.
I next lived in Haidian District (Beijing’s northwest district, the richest one) between 2014 to 2016 after I married a Beijinger. I was pretty familiar with this district as I visited to many sites around when I was studying, including Zhong Guan Cun (IT Hub), Wu Dao Kou (Shopping district), Summer Palace and others. Many universities including Tsinghua University and Peking University are located here, where many of my friends were studying at.
My family now move to a new strange district I never been to — Fengtai district, which is located in Beijing southern suburbs. Here, I am surprised to see the difference of city development between northern and southern area in Beijing. If you look to the map, here is the new location:
Now, if you google search “Beijing”, these are the images you shall see:
Pretty much what most people might know about Beijing nowadays — modern, metropolitan, prosperous, grand, artsy and etc. And yes, most of the places I been to in the past in Beijing are now growing to become one like above photos.
However, this is what I see outside from my bedroom.
The apartment I live is next to a slum, literally next to each other. I soon realized that there are many small slum areas here and there around this neighborhood.
I know that there were once many hutongs (alleys), like the slum in the photo, at the city center. But, there aren’t many left since gentrification happened frequently in the last decade. Most remain nowadays as part of the cultural or touristic district, which, in my opinion, lost its true authentic charisma.
In my belief, Fengtai district isn’t this underdeveloped. This location is closed to biggest railway station — Beijing South Railway Station (7km) and Beijing Railway Station (8km). There will be a new airport soon in 2022. Plus, Xiong’an New Area is a new big plan to expand Beijing metropolis area. I first assume all these developments will definitely bring new faces to the southern part of Beijing, but apparently, it isn’t.
I am curious about this coexistence because I believe this scenery will soon be gone, just like one in this article from New York Times. Therefore, I decided to take a short walk around the neighborhood and snap photos to observe.
I didn’t visit to any resident, but just walking around the neighborhood, to see at a surface level. I am writing this to share something you don’t see everyday but exists in real time. Here I am not promoting the social class difference, but just to share how this that I thought what how realistic and rooted Beijing is.
The slum is usually single-level brick building. Each lane (depends on how deep it goes) could have three to ten units in one row. I glanced through some units, its size can be varied between twenty to thirty meter square per unit. Most unit is just a small studio. Some have their kitchen indoor but some would put their stove outside. For sure, all these units have no toilet. The resident here would go to the public toilet which is half block away from my spot taking this picture.
Each lane will have their own name and sign board like the photo above. The big font above is the street title. In the bottom box, from left to right, are the street code number, district unit name, and the phone to contact the local government office.
Outside of each lane, you would see this row of electricity meters. Instead of installing them one by one at each unit, this method is more time-saving and efficient to collect the data.
Here is the public toilet (you can recognize it from the bathroom sign board). I didn’t take the photo inside, but the design is half-open, which means you can see others in the toilet when you are pooping (this is the standard design in most public toilet in Beijing). The hygiene is not that fine and pretty smelly even if you just passing by, even the janitor is cleaning everyday. The hygiene situation is pretty common as I have experienced it since 2005 when I started studying in Beijing.
Believe it or not, when I turn from public toilet, this is what I see. There are more hangings like this in the public space outdoor around the slum. My guess for this are: 1) it is a sunny day we have (though it is still winter and minus-two Celcius); 2) there is no space in the house to hang the shirt (sometime I would just put it on the heater to dry it); 3) there is not enough sunlight get into the house to dry the cloth.
It is rare to see this scenery in Beijing nowadays. Back in 2016, Beijing city started to ban street vendors for the safety and development reason. They now are considered illegal. You may still see some outside of subway stations but they could be arrested by breaking the rule. However, many senior citizens, like the tailor in the photo, would see this as an action to connect and serve the need in the neighborhood, some would count this as an act to contribute to the community. They normally charge the service at a favorable and lower rate, with outstanding quality.
Cycling remains one of the most popular transportation in Beijing, especially in this kind of densely populated neighborhood. Many bike-sharing are available nowadays in Beijing, like Mobike, Ofo and others, with just 1RMB for 30 minutes ride.
The bike with a box next to the cyclist is the local street janitor’s cart.
Other than cycling, electric bike and electric car are now the new choices for people to travel around the neighborhood. Instead of owning a car, both choices are now very popular among people in slum area. It is cheaper, faster than bike, and easier to park with its smaller size compare to a car.
However, from my research, the kind of electric car in the photo, is not yet allowed to drive on the road as the government is still planning new policies for regulation regarding to this new transportation. But, it is a new trend now in many metropolis within China, for senior citizens to travel around with their grandchildren by driving this uprising electric car.
This is a real colorful photo. I passed by this abandoned shoplot unit that transferred to a hangout spot. The table is sketched with lines based on the formation of Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). You can see the chess pieces on the blue couch.
This is the back door of a restaurant. The (pink) couch is a rest place for workers during the break. You can also see the rooftop is designed according to the Chinese rooftop style. Under the rooftop, there are spotlights. The restaurant might use the lights to open more tables at the backyard in the summer’s evening.
The driver went into his house the moment before I shot this photo. His truck carried recyclable items like plastic bottles, aluminium tins and others. Many residents in the Beijing’s slum nowadays still survive by collecting recyclable items. Although it might not earn much money, but it remains as an income source among the lower social class.
What I love about this photo here is the contrast between the two residential buildings in the front and the back, it shows a strong separation in one community. That divergence makes me wonder how different can they be in the home itself?
To add, the slum unit is next to a trash room where you can see a green bin.
This is another photo that combines two contrasting elemnts. You can see the apartments behind the trees, which is the area where I live now. It shows a combination of past and present, traditional and modern.
Compare to the first photo, this slum area has a busier and wider walking street that connects from the front to the back, from one area to another. You can also see the house has a higher wall. Cables are hanging on top of the street, connecting from one unit to another.
Indeed, Beijing is growing fast and there are some are gone forever. However, I feel glad to be able to see and experience what I have seen from this short walk. This coexistence would remind me how Beijing shifts from one face to another. It leaves the traces that we all should learn and keep in mind of how one place grow. Many keeps looking forward and forgetting to learn how this magnificence grows from time to time. I see this sharing as an archive to pay tribute to the past and embrace the unknown future.
Thank you for reading this far and I hope you would enjoy my writing! Your clap would be a motivation to me and I would appreciate a lot.
This is just a new beginning to me after years of not writing photo journal, I plan to do more travel sharing this year when I travel to different places. Do please share with me if you have any thought. Below is one last street photo from the same neighborhood, I wonder how it would be different between seasons.
- If you would love to read more, here is one recommendation for you —
Once Upon In China
