Quote:
Originally Posted by Reesonov
To me, Beijing's intangible quality is that, despite being at the educational, cultural and political heart of Chinese Civilization (on and off) for the last 2,400 years, it still feels like it is on the frontier. I this arises mostly from geography: a close proximity to the Jundu mountains, the great wall of China, the Gobi desert, and the Mongol hordes. However, I think there is a cultural element as well: for example, Beijing is the cutting edge of the Chinese art (and, at least it was a couple of years ago, a darling of the international scene as well) and cuisine scenes.
Anyway, this is an outstanding thread. One of my favourite threads of the year so far (and, in light of the truly extraordinary number of amazing photo threads we are treated to on SSP, I mean this as high praise indeed.) Finally shows off the scale of Beijing, ancient capital of the world's oldest and largest civilization, modern megalopolis of 20 million people. I really appreciate the effort you've made in capturing Beijing from this rare and very suitable perspective. Thank you and I can't wait to see more.
I would just add: although Beijing is ringed and crossed by freeways and boulevards, the side streets and neighborhoods are a cacophony of restaurants, vegetable markets, shopping streets, street vendors, and of course throngs of people, like all of Asia's metropolises.
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Thanks for your nice words, Reesonov..
One can write many essays discussing how China or Beijing has become such. I wish Chinese the best. Although annoyed by many of them many times, they are indeed smart and hard working and deserve more than what they have right now.
Starting from next post, I will show closeups of interesting or important buildings in Beijing. Beijing is, after all, the capital city of a country that disproportionately puts bureaucrats and businessmen in front of ordinary people. The focus will inevitably reflect that.