I wrote not so long ago about “Jiulong”’s pictures of Beijing, and in particular about the picture of Qianmen. It stirred a lot of memories about an area I remember with a great deal of affection, and it seemed to strike a chord, as that post got quite a lot of hits for some reason. I was writing about the community of the area , and my concern about the redevelopment of the area. Sadly, it seems that my worst fears are true. An article in Beijing Newspeak reports the intimidation, cheating and violence that have been used to evict the residents, who are being resettled far from the area. Of course, I’ll go back to visit when I get to Beijing again, but it seems I’ll only find a tourist Potemkin village at best. How very sad.

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