My Green Beijing

I did prepare myself well for seeing lots of changes in Beijing before I came back this time. It's been a year and a half after all and I knew how fast Beijing could change, especially with the Olympics coming up and all. Well at least I thought I did. I was still shocked with how many new buildings there were, that I couldn't recognize half of the city, that there was a new metro line and even the metro price has been changed, that even Beijing can have clear blue sky for several days in a row in winter, all that... Of course some things never change here, and will never do, for example the traffic (obviously) and the city's capability to entertain itself as well as the public, for example the following:


After all the real green natural scenery in Huangshan and the genuine city skyline in Hong Kong (genuine being the key word), the fact that Beijing actually put this up at the entrance of Tian'an Men Square struck me as a genius idea. You want green trees? There, you have green trees! I was so amused that I had to run across half of Tian'an Men Square (it's big!) back to it and took the photo. Next time you get out of the Tian'an Men East metro station, check it for me and let me know if it's still there. I'll miss it. I demand it be kept in Beijing's City Planning Museum.