I’m now in my second week in Beijing, settling in to my area at the southwestern edge of the 2nd Ring Road (we’ve found a small one-bedroom flat in a nice modern building) and starting to get my bearings in terms of geography, soundmarks and what to eat!
One thing I’ve noticed already is that we’re very lucky this year in terms of weather and pollution. Spring is already here, green shoots being noticeable straight after Chinese New Year. And we’ve had quite a few blue sky days (though not today); ‘Blue Velvet’ is playing in the café I’m in and I’m not feeling too much of the ‘Eraserhead’ vibe right now!
The nice thing about my area is that it’s a place of contrasts: large apartment buildings and expressways and overpasses coexist with warrens of backstreets with old-style single-storey courtyard houses and diverse back-alley eateries. Visually, what’s striking is the tangled silhouettes of wires and trees. I’m still not quite sure how I’ll respond creatively to the place, but the soundscape is so strikingly different and dense that it’s already inspiring at a very basic level of creative motivation!
Beijing seems sprawling at first, but at least we’re central and by a subway station; mastering the subway network makes a big difference for newbies like us; less time driving past swathes of similar-looking apartment blocks or office blocks to get where you’re going!
