beijing for beginners

The most compelling sensation that you will experience in Beijing is the knock-down, drag-out fight between China's past and present. With its 5,000 year history, China has existed for an eternity in comparison to the bright-cheeked newborn that is the United States. Yet China is also throwing itself into the present with such vehemence that it's impossible to tell whether China's greatest glories will be those that jump-started recorded history or the advances that the country is so doggedly pursuing today.



For Americans, China is the other side of the world, an "other" that is represented by Lo Mein in little white boxes and "Made in China" tags on most of our consumer goods. China is a country that communicates in a language most Americans don't understand and cannot read, and is known for something like a billion people on bicycles. We close our eyes and see Chairman Mao, or a defiant silhouette in front of a Tian'anmen tank, or the serpentine wall we're told can be seen from space.



The 2008 Olympics, however, offered an education in what China wants us to see. They pulled the billions off of their bicycles, and organized them in perfect rows of perfect moves on the floor of the Bird's Nest. The structure itself was a confident run past tradition and into trend-setting, and gave the country a new calling card. It's no accident that China is now nearly as famous for its modern architectural choices as for its traditional staples of tea and rice.

Despite these visions of a new tomorrow, tradition can still be found in Beijing. There are the tourist sites and there are the tours, but what is in question is how long the sites without paid admission will last.



One of the greatest pleasures of travel is seeing how other people live; walking down small streets in search of real life. The best place to wander in Beijing is down the dusty honeycombed blocks called "hutong," which are unfortunately being cleared for newly-commissioned beauty.



For a visitor, the beauty of Beijing is found as much in the hutongs as anywhere else. These snug streets edged with homes and small businesses and real people are where you can see life being lived. There's the woman repeatedly slamming a large fish on a doorstep before handing it over to her customer for dinner. And the man selling sweet potatoes from an oil drum attached to his bicycle. And kids playing, and TVs glowing in dark corners, and stockpiles of green leafy vegetables behind red wooden doors.



Beijing's hutong are dusty and different and they are disappearing. I don't live in Beijing and I hadn't been there before, but even I could see China's future steamrolling right through its living past. It's tough because while progress can be picturesque, reality is often even more so.