Beijing Photos – Before the Olympics
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Beijing, China: a place where yesterday’s icons – dragons, Mao, pagodas, drum towers and the Great Wall – meet today’s urge to modernize and build to the sky.
Last winter, we captured a few images that defined our glimpse of Beijing in full-tilt transformation. We watched buildings as they were demolished in hours and built in record time; sampled bites from Beijing’s local and international food scenes; visited Factory 798 (Beijing’s artists’ quarter); hiked along the Great Wall in virtual winter desolation at Jinshanling; spied prodigious cats prowling in traditional neighborhoods whose buildings hadn’t yet met the wrecking ball; and were entertained by the proliferation of Chinglish on street corners and in English-language menus.
With the 2008 Olympics approaching, all eyes are now on Beijing. Take a leisurely stroll through the city before the Olympics – and ensuing mayhem – begin.
Note: If you prefer to watch the photo set in slideshow format, click “Slideshow” on the top left corner of the photo set page.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Great photos! I especially like the photos of the families.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
The families were fun – they don’t seem to change as much as Beijing’s skyline! Given how Beijing is constantly changing, each visitor probably has a different set of photos based on when they visited.
December 29th, 2012 at 10:41 am
Wow, great photos of Beijing! I loved the photos of 798 Factory. I wish i was there before during my last visit to Beijing. Nowadays, the CCTV tower is already completed. I am not sure whether there is already some offices inside, it looks amazing at CBD area of Beijing.
January 6th, 2013 at 8:16 am
@Michael: 798 was terrific. Not sure if you’ve had a chance to read our piece about it:
http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2008/08/factory-798-beijing/
Regarding the CCTV tower being finished, I’m sure there are so many buildings in Beijing that have been finished since we were there. A lot of changes taking place in that city!