Thoughts of a Beijing Taxi Driver
“Yes, I was born and raised in Beijing,” he says. We are driving alongside the north end of the second ring road. During the course of our conversation I let him know that I am a big fan of history. He says he is quite fond of it himself. “I still remember a time when more parts of the Old Beijing Wall were still around,” he comments, “They tore it down piece by piece to build this subway line.” He points to the stop across the street as we pass by. The loop line of the Beijing Subway travels almost directly along the old wall's path. The names of the subway stops are a throwback to the titles of the wall's old gates. I tell him I have visited the ChongWenMen Ming Wall Park. There is still a 1.5 kilometer section left that has been renovated into a public park. He smiles slightly and sighs, “Yep, that’s the only part of the wall left. That and a few of the bigger gates and towers like Qianmen.” As we drive under one of the highway bridges he tells me that there used to be a section of the wall there. I ask him whether he thinks Beijing’s modern transformation is good. “Yea, it’s needed. Where there is stability there is development. Things change and it really can’t be helped.” I stare out the window as we pass by the ShiZeMen Subway stop. “Tai ke shi le,” I remark. What a shame. The driver sighs, “Shi de, zen de tai ke shi.” Yes, it really is a shame. We continue our drive. If this were Old Beijing we would have just traveled beyond the walls to outer territories. In New Beijing, we've just barely left downtown.
posted by Unknown @ 5:14 PM
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