Eric's Beijing Diary

Went to Guomao to buy my plane ticket today. I met a guy on the subway who asked me if I was a movie director. Do I really look that much like Spielberg? I don't know...it never would have occurred to me, but someone in Japan made the same observation once. In China, it's usually Marx or Santa Claus. Maybe that's because Japan doesn't have a "Marx." But the main thing, I think, is that someone with a beard generally gets stereotyped as an image of someone people relate to among the foreigners they have seen or heard of. Beards just aren't very common in Asia.

Compared to Tokyo, Beijing's subway system seems small townish. But it is changing. Beijing is building several subway lines in preparation for the Olympics. Although I sometimes dread the changes, the tremendous investment in infrastructure development may turn out to be the main benefit of the Olympics. Still not sure, though, whether it will be mainly curse or blessing. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping all the change doesn't do too much damage to the older communities. There is quite a bit of overbuilding in Beijing, now, and much of it is done for speculation. If the bubble bursts, we could end up with a whole lot of empty concrete structures. Life in newer communities does have it's conveniences, but it is also more complicated and more expensive. Most of the time, I find myself hoping the whole thing can come off without doing too much damage.