I live in a vast borderland
Well, not exactly, as anyone who normally reads my blog can tell you. I do live many miles and worlds away from the main parts of Beijing, the only part of Beijing that matters to most expats, foreign correspondents, and real bloggers. But a vast borderland, as it was described in one of the Atlantic's blogs? Hmmm.
The other day one of James Fallow's guest bloggers, Harvard grad student and blogger Ella Chou, posted about Changping. Changping! I have to admit I was initially excited about reading how Changping is the future of Beijing's suburbs. Somehow what I hoped to read in her post was something that would somehow validate our rather unorthodox choice to live out here where foreigners (and Starbucks) fear to tread, that maybe we would be seen as lucky or even (dare I say it?) cool in arriving in Changping years before it became a lively, desirable suburb.
But Chou's post's title ended with a question mark, suggesting doubt. Certainly I've had that doubt myself. Recently the other American mom out here said to me that she believes Changping Town is within two years of getting a Starbucks. I laughed at this, doubting that Changping could ever support a non-smoking Western coffee franchise with prices twice that of the smoky local shops. But just in the past few months there's been a lot of changes. Earlier last year I had asked one of my Chinese friends, someone whose family have lived in Changping for several generations, if there were a movie theater in town. He thought my question was funny, and he doubted Changping would be getting a movie theater any time soon. A few months later we had two. There have been other changes, too, like upgrades to the local grocery store scene, and the recent arrival of the Beijing Metro.
It's the arrival of the Beijing Metro that is the basis for Chou's post. Chou quotes a friend of hers, Dan Chinoy, about his experiences riding the just-opened line that comes out to Changping. He rode the new line on a whim for adventure, and was surprised what he saw riding the newest cars in the Beijing Metro system with only a few people to the end, including "a pair of giggling, stylish Chinese girls playing with their iPhones, a couple evidently going to a costume party -- the guy in a pirate hat, the girl wearing rabbit ears -- and several young men in Air Jordans and Nike jackets." When he exited the metro station he came above ground he was surprised by what he saw.
The brand new station has multiple exits, like a metro station in any other urban neighborhood, but currently, the end of the line opens up to the small village of Nanshao and the new construction projects that surround it. (Memo to self: must go out an get pictures of this before it changes because it is very funny to see). He uses the word "vast borderland" to describe what he saw.
Here Chinoy must have assumed that the iPhone girls and the costumed couple must all be unlikely residents of tiny, dusty Nanshao. However, if he had asked one of the dozen cab drivers waiting at the metro exits, or the bus drivers, or even the other passengers, he may have learned that Nanshao was probably not their final destination. He may have learned for 20-25 kuai he could get a ride in a black cab into Changping town (much less if he took the bus), the urban center served by this metro station (that is, until the extension into Changping proper and out to the Ming Tombs is finished in the next few years). While it appeared to him that the Metro arrived somewhere well in advance of any population, he could have learned that this is just another step in the series of Urban Planning experiments that have created Changping, such as it is today.
Had he taken a ride into town, he would have gone past the WalMart with one of the new movie theaters above it. Continuing on Fuxue Lu, he may have found that Changping is home away from home for thousands of students who might attend China University of Petroleum, or the graduate Law School of the China University of Political Science and Law (the only law school in the country that specializes in International Law), or Beijing Chemical University, or National Defense University (whose students are high ranking military elite from other countries). There are a few others I know I am forgetting.
Had he planned his trip, he could have done some historical digging, and realized that Changping figures into the Genghis Khan story. Genghis camped in Changping before laying siege to Beijing. One of the few remnants of that era is the 700 year old Mosque that still stands in an alley near the center of town. Perhaps he would have come to Gulou Lu (Drum Tower Road), a name referring to a major landmark that no longer exists. Nor, like other towns of its age, does Changping have its city walls. In fact, for a town that has been in historical record for more than 1000 years, there's not much old anything left. Changping's streets are full of buildings built 10-15 years ago and then development appears to have stalled. Perhaps he would have been curious about all the urban planning experiments that had previously been hatched upon this region to help alleviate the burdens of the more popular neighborhoods to the south.
The improvements to the highway system, namely the G6 (once called the Badaling Expressway) and the Sixth Ring Road were intended to provide easy access from Changping to central Beijing. For people that would live in Changping and drive to work in central Beijing, the rush-hour drive would be well over an hour. And for those who would be without a car (either full-time or one day a week by license plate), the only public transportation options to get into Beijing quickly have been a handful of express buses which go to Deshengmen, necessitating changing to another form of transportation to get anywhere else, like work. Changping has not been a convenient place to live for people who need to access central Beijing on a daily basis.
All of the universities in Changping were relocated from other area of Beijing, partly to raise the town's profile in Beijing and make it appear an attractive place to live. There had also been incentives to locate businesses out here, so Changping is home to a Delphi factory, a Novartis factory, two major magnet manufacturers, as well as many others kinds of industries. While these have worked to grow the population of Changping, that population is more fluid than permanent, composed of students and migrant workers. While there's nothing wrong with that, a constantly changing population with limited spending money does not naturally spur the kind of suburban development that the urban planners hoped to achieve.
I am not bothered by Chinoy's impression of Nanshao as shared by Chou. He is absolutely right about the subway stop appearing to be in the middle of nowhere. However, that is not the full story, and I was disappointed. Changping has been planned to be Beijing's suburban future for quite some time, and the fits and starts of the process show how difficult the task has been.
The other day one of James Fallow's guest bloggers, Harvard grad student and blogger Ella Chou, posted about Changping. Changping! I have to admit I was initially excited about reading how Changping is the future of Beijing's suburbs. Somehow what I hoped to read in her post was something that would somehow validate our rather unorthodox choice to live out here where foreigners (and Starbucks) fear to tread, that maybe we would be seen as lucky or even (dare I say it?) cool in arriving in Changping years before it became a lively, desirable suburb.
But Chou's post's title ended with a question mark, suggesting doubt. Certainly I've had that doubt myself. Recently the other American mom out here said to me that she believes Changping Town is within two years of getting a Starbucks. I laughed at this, doubting that Changping could ever support a non-smoking Western coffee franchise with prices twice that of the smoky local shops. But just in the past few months there's been a lot of changes. Earlier last year I had asked one of my Chinese friends, someone whose family have lived in Changping for several generations, if there were a movie theater in town. He thought my question was funny, and he doubted Changping would be getting a movie theater any time soon. A few months later we had two. There have been other changes, too, like upgrades to the local grocery store scene, and the recent arrival of the Beijing Metro.
It's the arrival of the Beijing Metro that is the basis for Chou's post. Chou quotes a friend of hers, Dan Chinoy, about his experiences riding the just-opened line that comes out to Changping. He rode the new line on a whim for adventure, and was surprised what he saw riding the newest cars in the Beijing Metro system with only a few people to the end, including "a pair of giggling, stylish Chinese girls playing with their iPhones, a couple evidently going to a costume party -- the guy in a pirate hat, the girl wearing rabbit ears -- and several young men in Air Jordans and Nike jackets." When he exited the metro station he came above ground he was surprised by what he saw.
The brand new station has multiple exits, like a metro station in any other urban neighborhood, but currently, the end of the line opens up to the small village of Nanshao and the new construction projects that surround it. (Memo to self: must go out an get pictures of this before it changes because it is very funny to see). He uses the word "vast borderland" to describe what he saw.
Here Chinoy must have assumed that the iPhone girls and the costumed couple must all be unlikely residents of tiny, dusty Nanshao. However, if he had asked one of the dozen cab drivers waiting at the metro exits, or the bus drivers, or even the other passengers, he may have learned that Nanshao was probably not their final destination. He may have learned for 20-25 kuai he could get a ride in a black cab into Changping town (much less if he took the bus), the urban center served by this metro station (that is, until the extension into Changping proper and out to the Ming Tombs is finished in the next few years). While it appeared to him that the Metro arrived somewhere well in advance of any population, he could have learned that this is just another step in the series of Urban Planning experiments that have created Changping, such as it is today.
Had he taken a ride into town, he would have gone past the WalMart with one of the new movie theaters above it. Continuing on Fuxue Lu, he may have found that Changping is home away from home for thousands of students who might attend China University of Petroleum, or the graduate Law School of the China University of Political Science and Law (the only law school in the country that specializes in International Law), or Beijing Chemical University, or National Defense University (whose students are high ranking military elite from other countries). There are a few others I know I am forgetting.
Had he planned his trip, he could have done some historical digging, and realized that Changping figures into the Genghis Khan story. Genghis camped in Changping before laying siege to Beijing. One of the few remnants of that era is the 700 year old Mosque that still stands in an alley near the center of town. Perhaps he would have come to Gulou Lu (Drum Tower Road), a name referring to a major landmark that no longer exists. Nor, like other towns of its age, does Changping have its city walls. In fact, for a town that has been in historical record for more than 1000 years, there's not much old anything left. Changping's streets are full of buildings built 10-15 years ago and then development appears to have stalled. Perhaps he would have been curious about all the urban planning experiments that had previously been hatched upon this region to help alleviate the burdens of the more popular neighborhoods to the south.
The improvements to the highway system, namely the G6 (once called the Badaling Expressway) and the Sixth Ring Road were intended to provide easy access from Changping to central Beijing. For people that would live in Changping and drive to work in central Beijing, the rush-hour drive would be well over an hour. And for those who would be without a car (either full-time or one day a week by license plate), the only public transportation options to get into Beijing quickly have been a handful of express buses which go to Deshengmen, necessitating changing to another form of transportation to get anywhere else, like work. Changping has not been a convenient place to live for people who need to access central Beijing on a daily basis.
All of the universities in Changping were relocated from other area of Beijing, partly to raise the town's profile in Beijing and make it appear an attractive place to live. There had also been incentives to locate businesses out here, so Changping is home to a Delphi factory, a Novartis factory, two major magnet manufacturers, as well as many others kinds of industries. While these have worked to grow the population of Changping, that population is more fluid than permanent, composed of students and migrant workers. While there's nothing wrong with that, a constantly changing population with limited spending money does not naturally spur the kind of suburban development that the urban planners hoped to achieve.
I am not bothered by Chinoy's impression of Nanshao as shared by Chou. He is absolutely right about the subway stop appearing to be in the middle of nowhere. However, that is not the full story, and I was disappointed. Changping has been planned to be Beijing's suburban future for quite some time, and the fits and starts of the process show how difficult the task has been.
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