It's amazing how fast the scenery changed here. Our neighborhood has undergone an immense transformation since May.
The Beijing city center after being spruced up.
(Photo by Heidi Kowalewski)
The slums that weren't demolished have been masked by tall and decorative metal walls, most with the signature Olympic characters and other images and figures in celebration of the games. I suppose they couldn’t get rid of all the shantytowns; the massive migrant population needs somewhere to live while working. The migrants have been the key labor force building up the city in preparation for China's moment in the sun.
New brick sidewalks have been laid down by hand on almost every street. All sorts of foliage and flowers have been hung and planted on and over every patch of earth. Every park has received a facelift. Also, countless businesses have opened and many are still being built. I was most excited about the new Pizza Hut and the new coffee and doughnut shop that opened near our apartment.
The coffee and doughnut shop is awesome. American music plays inside. The coffee is very high quality -- delicious! -- and the doughnuts are even better. The owner really wants our business; she's always forcing free doughnuts on us. Though I initially say no thanks, of course I can never resist. I hope her business is successful. We never see very many other customers. Drinking coffee is a costly luxury that only the more affluent Chinese citizens can afford. But the prices are equivalent to what we'd pay in a nice shop in the States. One coffee costs about 30 yuan, which is a lot of money to a Chinese person. We definitely come out winners with the exchange rate. One U.S. dollar equals about 7 yuan.
All of the Western style restaurants in the city are too expensive for the average native, with the exception of McDonald's and KFC. I have paid 7 to 50 yuan for a single meal in traditional Chinese restaurants; in the Western-style restaurants I've paid 120 to 250 yuan for my meal. The pleasure of eating something comfortingly familiar is definitely worth the extra cash. By word of mouth and some exploring, we've discovered Italian, German, TexMex, Irish, Australian, and good old traditional American cuisine scattered around the city. Now we have Pizza Hut a few blocks away.
Alec in Beijing in front of a new Olympic mural.
(Photo by Heidi Kowalewski)
(Photo by Heidi Kowalewski)
In Beijing, Pizza Hut is considered a touch classier than how it's viewed back home. I would say it's more like eating at the Olive Garden. The pizzas themselves are a little disappointing though. They don’t put enough sauce on them and offer non-traditional toppings such as shrimp, crab, tuna and shredded beef. I stick to the vegetarian, but even that's covered with corn and pineapple. Of course if I could speak Chinese I would customize my pizza, but alas, I can't.
I don’t know if I’m getting used to people staring, or if Chinese people are getting used to seeing foreigners and are not staring as much. I think it’s the latter. My wife and I both have noticed a surge of foreign faces, even in our neighborhood. The city is filled with officials, professionals and athletes here for the games. And there are also the fancy folk who, unlike us, could actually afford tickets to the events. All of the extra people make it a little difficult to travel around the city now. It's hard to get a taxi and the subway cars are a claustrophobic nightmare. I’m not claustrophobic, but I do get uncomfortable being packed so tightly together with other people. And sometimes people don’t smell so good after a 96-degree day.
I was very excited about this trip when I first arrived in the city. I was looking forward to having an exotic experience with my wife. However, after we had visited every tourist location within traveling distance, had eaten Chinese food every day for weeks on end, and had no friends to socialize with, my excitement waned. But, I am happy to say that I have regained that initial enthusiasm this past week. My wife and I have been visiting the busy city center to share in the exhilaration and enjoy the celebratory atmosphere. People are waving flags and donning patriotic clothing. Everyone is so happy and every face has a smile. I'm very privileged to have had the chance to be a part of this great event.
-- Alec Kowalewski
