- Architect -

People's Republic of China is considered to be one of the fastest developing countries worldwide. Reaching the luxurious airport of Beijing (a doubtlessly important project by Foster & Partners), makes the visitor think that the development -the forced one- which took place the few past years (Olympic Games, EXPO, etc), transformed China's image completely. Walking through the streets of Beijing though, one can see anything but luxury.

There is nothing such as urban planning and the tall buildings on the sides of the cloudy avenues, look like they want to conceal the terribly low standard of living, people in China do have. Breathing while roaming in the streets of China is hard due to bad odors and ordering at restaurants is almost impossible since no one speaks English. Innumerable, colorful lights all around in the streets or even more, on the buildings, make you wonder what is kits and what is not. On the other hand, people there, who were forced to adopt this type of living, look hospitable like few Europeans. They do not envy Western culture, they look up on it. They do not look at you suspiciously or with envy, they are just eager to take a picture of you because they think you are more good looking compared to themselves. They may not know how to deal with this new reality, but they never lose their smile, even if they do not understand a simple word when you talk to them. And they are the very same people that are unbelievably committed to their all day long work, with the minimum salaries, only to go back to a Hutong at night, where there is NO bathroom, facing a government that treats them as machines.

The feeling you get after visiting China, is not that it is beautiful but something different. That difference is that makes every minute of that visit, worth.