17 April 2018
Gentrification
Walking to Sanlitun from Wangfujing
Tonight I went to the nightclub and drug dealing area of Beijing, Sanlitun. It is located near all the embassies and the theory goes that all the sons of diplomats were importing drugs to sell knowing they had diplomatic immunity, the worst that would happen when they got caught is they would be thrown out of China.
I went there last time I was here, and indeed there were a lot of guys insisting I buy heroin / cocaine etc off of them, and I could see people openly buying stuff in the street. That all seems to have changed.
The only thing on offer tonight was 'girly bar?' and that was being offered by Chinese guys, not relatives of African warlords. Actually there didnt seem to be many foreigners there at all, perhaps everyone moved somewhere else or just left.
Despite its former notorious reputation, it is also the most upmarket part of Beijing, full of things Russians like to buy, and the streets are full of Lamborghinis driven by princelings who dont know how to drive who enjoy revving the crap out of them while stuck in traffic.
I remembered that the last time I went to Sanlitun I struggled to find anywhere to eat that I could afford or get into, however this time it was pretty good, the area under the intercontinental hotel has a street food street, perhaps the closest to street food I am likely to experience as I hate eating on the street, instead I had gentrified street food - 2 levels under a 5 star hotel in an air conditioned well lit shopping mall.
I am staying in the old city, very near the forbidden city. Tonight I walked towards the new city, where the buildings start to get taller and more modern. However the even bigger buildings are still a long way off in the distance in the smog. The CCTV 'pants' building is still a few kilometres away from here. Beijing is enormous.
The worlds largest bank by every measure (I think or is it their competitor ICBC?). Either way, Bank of China is huge and has a huge building. Actually they have lots of huge buildings.
Here is a line. Everyone has seen a line before. Maybe you have also seen youtube videos of crowded Chinese subway stations. Well this is a line to get into the station, and the platform is a long way underground, so presumably that platform is full, as are all the stairs and escalators, resulting in a line out into the street. Glad I decided to walk.
A whole street full of dubious clubs and karaoke bars. They dont want me as a customer, my awesome singing would intimidate the other patrons into leaving.
In the up market mall area now, and here is the biggest advertising installation I ever saw. The screen behind everything here is easily 4 floors high.
Its a giant monkey, hanging off a building, shooting laser beams out of its eyes.
Here, have a bit more mall.
I have absolutely no idea what this store was selling, it also does not seem to be an art gallery. The guy running the store was asleep.
I like it when they light up the trees.
This is the awesome intercontinental hotel. It has an LED exo-skeleton that can be lit up in any color of full motion video. You would have to see it to understand.
Sorry about the blurry vision, it was a moving subject in the dark. In amongst the parade of Lamborghinis this went past. A husband and wife transporting plastic crates on their bicycles. The lead bike is electric, pulling the second one with a rope. They were adding to the general traffic chaos.
I found my dinner under here somewhere.
OMUSOBA! Its an omelet filled with soba noodles. I think I have eaten too many noodles. Presentation was lacking but it was delicious.
Nearby is a car dealership for future electric cars that dont exist yet. You know they are electric because they have used an exciting electric blue pattern, blue being the globally recognized color of electric car.
If you saw cola flavored potato chips with a black colored pug dog on the packet, would you buy them? Of course you would. The cola flavor was really very strong too!
And now as I was typing this, some cards appeared under my hotel room door. Another day over, another 45,000 steps today, many more tomorrow!