Eric's Beijing Diary

Scenes like this are becoming more and more rare in the Haidian district. When I first came to China, I was quite surprised so see how much "countryside" still existed in this part of the city. In one sense, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, because for all its rapid development, China is still a developing country. But Tsinghua and Peking University are old and distinguished institutions, and both of them are located north of this area--further from the city center. It just seems that there is an "in between" area here on the upper west side that is dragging its feet about becoming a city, and has been for a hundred years. Sadly, I'm afraid the struggle is almost over. The "country town" feel to my neighborhood is slowly slipping away.