From the initial landing in Beijing (北京, or "North Capital"), the "Beijing 2008" Olympic logo blanketed storefronts, signs, and merchandise. I initially decided I would keep a tally of the the Olympics signs I saw during the weekend; I realized only a few moments later that the idea was totally impractical. From the gigantic "One World, One People" sign erected next to one of the towers of the Great Wall, to the 5 Olympic rings painted on regular intervals on the asphalt of major highways, to the Bank of China adopting the rings into its business logo... the aftermath of Olympic fever was inescapable.
However, in some ways I was grateful for the Olympics, as it prompted a city purification - in contrast with the horror stories I had heard about Beijing pollution, I actually thought the air seemed less toxic than in Shenzhen. My guidebook from 2007 claimed that "living in Beijing was equivalent to smoking 70 cigarettes a day." This is a ridiculous claim, since equivalence is given here by an unspecified measure, but it gave me an explanation for the overload of mucus and dry, hacking coughs I get after biking through Shenzhen - put in terms of cigarettes, it makes sense that the raw pollutants in the air would actually make it painful to breathe. I did not experience this in Beijing, and was actually able to see buildings and mountains in the distance, although there was still a bit of visible haze hanging in the air.
Aside from the overdose of Olympics and the pollution, Beijing was a really amazing and enjoyable city, enhanced by constant comparisons to Shenzhen. In Beijing, a vast majority of the people on the streeets - particularly during this very non-touristy season - were Chinese. But I received no staring and heard no one use the word for foreigner. In this cosmopolitan city, it seemed that the general public was pretty uninterested in seeing a blonde American.
But wait - the population of Shenzhen is about 13 million, and it's been the fastest-growing city in China for much of the last decade. Shouldn't it have the same big-city vibe as its big brother Beijing? There is a pretty simple explanation, I think (although this is my own speculation, so don't quote me at dinner parties): in the 1970s, Shenzhen was a small fishing village. It was built up as a "Special Economic Zone" or SEZ beginning the 1980s, and the population that has come since was drawn mostly from rural villages. So the people who stare at me in Bao'an - a faraway factory-filled district - are at most one generation removed from rural China. Despite the fact that they now live in a huge city, the city is still relatively homogenous (Chinese) and - living on the outskirts - they have likely never seen a white person in their entire lives. I would stare, too...
Since my return, I've begun to see Bao'an and its inhabitants in a new light. Strangely, it parallels the way I reconsider the US, or Minnesota, or even North St Paul, after traveling to new areas - as always, seeing something new broadens your perspective of "home."
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I'm not finished!! Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and seahorse on a stick: pictures to be posted soon.
