Thirteen years ago we were in Beijing for the first time. Just before the first McDonalds had been opened there. Out of curiosity we of course had to bring a visit. It was interesting to see that the young and trendy Chinese in that time, who had a bit more money to spend than his average fellowman, saw a meal here as something really exiting.
Today we brought a visit to the same region of town but it could have been in another city on another planet. The only resemblance was that there were a lot of people looking Chinese. The view in Wangfujing Dajie, THE shopping street in Beijing, wasn’t different from other expensive and modern shopping places elsewhere in the world (see photo). It’s really unbelievable what has happened here in about 10 years. Reading about it is not enough, you just have to see it with your own eyes! On a big Olympic billboard ‘impossible is nothing’ could be read (see photo). Well, in this text nothing could be found that was not true in these surroundings! This presumably was even more true to the big groups of Chinese tourists from rural areas. They were recognisable by their white, yellow or white caps (photo) and the fact that they often walked behind a person with a small flag.

I found it striking to see a lot of billboards with only Western models (photo). But fortunately there was still this young innocent Chinese guard at the beginning of the mall as a token of decorum and consequence of the system. If you just would think the people away inside the malls(photo) you would know that you were in a very luxury surrounding, but where? That would be the question! But luckily there are those Chinese in the streets, sitting around, talking and eating. And don’t forget the bikes that are still there and the rather primitive cars of the people that keep the streets clean (see the different photos). Also the inevitable tramp had found his place (photo), but for how long? The Olympics are coming.