Eric's Beijing Diary

A little snow never hurt anybody. We don't get it very often here in Beijing. Usually once or twice a year. It's just too dry for much more than that. I took this picture as I was heading south of Wudaokou toward the North Gate of my university, alongside the train tracks where the train from Inner Mongolia has just passed the Wudaokou railroad junction (Wudaokou means "Junction Number Five."). This old country road is one of the last remnants of a community that is being filled up with development. It's really a place out of its time, because I am actually south of both Qinghua and Beida. There is quite a bit of urban area north of here, now, and I live on the northwest side of the city. It is a bit amazing to me that this area has survived as long as it has, because the universities I mentioned have been around since the beginning of the 20th Century. Wudaokou has changed so much, though, just in the three years that I have been here. Perhaps it will slow down a little this year, but it's hard to say. Maybe the slowdown will come right after the Olympics. I can't see it going too long at the current rate, because a fair amount of the building going on is speculation built ahead of the market. This is sure to create a glut, which will drop prices, at least for rental property. Still, the Wudaokou area is destined to become more and more urban in the years ahead. Sad to see it go, but that is the way of things in this world. "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come."