Beijing's Face-Lift

The one thing every visitor will notice about Beijing is the tremendous amount of construction taking place in the city.

As deemed by the government, all building must be completed by the end of 2007--in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. Everywhere you turn, there are cranes! The two shots shown below were taken from the window of my dad's hotel room during his visit. Derek counted 22 cranes.

I have also included a close-up shot of a typical Beijing apartment complex. Having a single-family home is extremely rare. Generally speaking, only for expats along the 6th ring is such a large home possible. Instead, usually three generations cram into an apartment much like the one pictured.

This complex is considered above average. It sits just half a block down from our apartment and the building itself is only 15 years old. However, with poor upkeep and much pollution, the structure appears much older than its actual age.

And prior to the establishment of these more modern apartments over the course of the last couple of decades, the even older neighborhoods--called Hu Tongs--better reflect traditional Chinese architecture. Derek and I hope to post pictures of these neighborhoods shortly. Unfortunately, due to Beijing's strong desire to become more modern, Hu Tongs are of a dying breed.