About 60 days before the Olympics begin, there are some worrying signs about the readiness of Beijing. It is truly great to see police out in full force cracking down on the country’s endemic drunk drivers, but the fact that the airport rail still has a huge chunk missing is more than a bit ominous. [...]
Continue reading “Ready is a Relative Term” »
Were it not for Robert Moses, America probably still would have had suburbs in the modern sense. However, the idea of a rich city outskirt, and the ‘white flight’ that it spurred, certainly came about sooner because of the NY legend. When I went out to Beijing’s upscale Shunyi suburb, it immediately flashed into my [...]
Continue reading “Robert Moses Would Love Beijing’s Shunyi” »
Beijing’s new subway system, which has already added line No. 5, is in the midst of a major overhaul for the Olympics (and for a modern China). But as I touched on the other day, the system being set up may not be that convenient for the Olympic visitor.
Case one is that of the Olympic [...]
Continue reading “Beijing Subway Not Designed for Olympics” »
The Beijing subway map has always been interesting to me. Line one reaches tantalizingly far west, while line eight [correction: batong xian], the extension of line one, goes right off the map into an unknown, unexplained land. It’s almost as if the city is saying, “Don’t worry, no one important lives out there. If you [...]
Continue reading “The Ends of Beijing” »
In Spring and Fall my bicycle gets met to work in a flash, no trouble at all. It’s only two and half miles, a straight shoot through the bustling Chinese morning craziness. But in the brutal Summer and blistering Winters, the subway is the only mode for me, anything else would be laziness.
Sure there are [...]
Continue reading “My Beijing Commute” »
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