Photo: Deb Agrin

Today, Beijing is the capital of China.  It is home to top universities, numerous museums, and national treasures such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace.  Many fear, however, that Beijing’s most distinctive treasures, like the winding hutong alleyways, are being lost to progress.  Lined with noodle stands, markets, and doorways to private courtyards, hutong ring with the sound of the distinctive Beijing accent known for ending words with an "r”-sound.  It used to be said that in Beijing, the hutong were more numerous than the hairs on an ox.  Today, though, most have been razed.

In their place, world-class architecture such as Herzon and de Meuron’s Beijing National Stadium, the seat of the 2008 Olympic Games, has arisen.  Beijing worked hard to win the Olympics and Beijingers look forward to 2010 as the year when their city will be on top of the world.

Copyright 2007. Author: Heather Clydesdale