Maria’s Blog

I returned to Beijing after a three-year break, and the ancient Chinese capital seemed familiar, yet strangely unfamiliar.

The Beijing I remember when I left in January 2005 was a city with gleaming skyscrapers and all the trappings of a modern metropolis.  But it was also harsh, gritty and a city of contrasts.  The air was bad and sand storms were frequent occurrences.  BMWs and Mercedes Benzes drove alongside pedicabs transporting recycled items ranging from cardboard boxes to empty plastic bottles.  Gleaming skyscrapers co-existed with shanty dwellings.

Taxis were shabby, and taxi rides were at best tolerated, and at worse, a nightmare.  Front seats of taxis were to be avoided, unless one has a penchant for unwashed bodies and inexplicable bad breath.

Construction sites were found everywhere, and it is almost impossible to walk anywhere without dust, sand and fumes getting into one’s face and assaulting one’s senses.

As for service in restaurants, it was at best patchy and at worse infuriating.  I remembered how a friend fumed when we asked for dessert spoons at a Chinese restaurant, only to be told by a surly waitress “why can’t you use the same spoon that you used for dinner?” 

I also remembered how put off I was when my friends and I ordered a dish in a western restaurant which we had hoped to share.  While taking down our orders, the waiter uttered loudly - “this little food and they want to share.”

And going to the bank was a test of one’s patience and endurance.  Queues were haphazard, and bank clerks would either chat while dozens of customers waited impatiently, or put up a “counter closed” sign when one reached the front of the line after queuing for close to an hour.

Traffic was also haphazard and chaotic

Spitting seemed to be a national past time, while queuing a national scourge.  

The Beijing I returned to in March 2008 was still very much a gleaming metropolis, and arguably more so.  The construction sites I used to walk past had since been transformed into spanking new office blocks.   The old hutongs and residential neighbourhoods had been replaced by new apartment blocks and shopping malls.  And street side cooked foods stalls have all been cleared away, as were a few of my favourite restaurants located in areas earmarked for development - all in the name of progress and development.

Air quality is still questionable, and the contrast between the rich and the poor is still evident.  But taxis have all been converted into mostly Hyundai Sonatas, while taxi drivers seemed to have undergone a crash course on vehicle - not to mention - personal and oral hygiene.

As for restaurants, more seemed to have sprouted, and service has markedly improved.  Most service staff are better-trained and customer-oriented.

Even going to the bank was not such an ordeal.  Waiting time has been reduced considerably, and bank clerks have stopped behaving as if they were doing their customers a favor by attending to their needs.

While traffic is still heavy and at times chaotic, queuing for taxis and buses seems to have made a quiet appearance.  During my first week in Beijing, I hopped into a taxi without realizing that there was a queue behind me.  When I looked up and saw at least seven to eight people in the queue, I did not know where to put my face or hide my embarrassment.

As for spitting, well, the act is not totally eradicated, but seemed to have reduced in frequency.

Do the changes have anything to do with the Beijing Olympics? Most certainly so.  The city is keen to project what its officials call a “civilized” image, and to host “the best Olympics ever.”

But in my case, is it simply a case of re-visiting an old friend, only to find out, with some mixed feelings, that the old friend has become more worldly and sophisticated?  Is it a case of being gratified that the old friend had moved on, yet wishing that more I used to love about the friend had remained the same?

But during the three years that I had been away from Beijing, I have also become older, mellower, and more patient.

Perhaps Beijing has changed.  But I too have not remain unchanged.  And with that changed perspective, many things about the Chinese capital also appeared different, even newer and more refreshing.

Is this the start of a brand new and more different love affair from the one I used to remember?  I most certainly hope so.