Welcome to the busiest construction zone on the planet

BEIJING LETTER/Miriam Donohoe : The journey from my hotel in Beijing's Chaoyang District to Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leader'…

BEIJING LETTER/Miriam Donohoe: The journey from my hotel in Beijing's Chaoyang District to Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leader's compound near Tiananmen Square, should have lasted 30 minutes at most. But no one had warned me about the choking increase in traffic in Beijing in the two years since I had lived in the Chinese capital. And I was now in danger of being late for a date with the leader of the world's most populous country.

The Chinese authorities had offered The Irish Times a rare interview with Premier Wen Jiabao ahead of his first visit to Ireland. So here I was, back in Beijing, in the middle of a major traffic panic. I was excited at the prospect of returning to China to see all the changes that had taken place in 24 months. I found myself overwhelmed at what I found.

The fact that a Chinese leader was prepared to do a 30-minute, no conditions, one-to-one interview with a Western newspaper was in itself an indication of change. Previously it was unheard of for the Chinese authorities to grant such access to the "foreign media". A sign maybe that the current leadership, which took over from the old regime in March 2003, is determined to lift the mantle of secrecy that has traditionally surrounded Chinese leaders, and at least appear to be more open.

The traffic increase in two years was mind-blowing. Beijing's once manageable roads now resemble enormous car-parks. Riding a bicycle is faster than driving a car. And speaking of bicycles, they are a dying breed in a city which once boasted millions of them. When I lived here with my family we often cycled from our apartment in Qi Jia Yuan to Tiananmen Square. I would not dare attempt that today.

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The number of cars in the city recently exceeded two million, and 5,000 new cars are added to that figure every week. A Chinese friend told me that two years ago it took her less than an hour to travel to work. Now the same journey is taking her 45 minutes longer.

Not only has the volume of traffic increased, but cars are bigger and flashier. Volkswagens, Audis, and Toyotas are rapidly replacing the smaller and cheaper Chinese models that once dominated. I spotted a few Ferraris this week, and a colleague boasted of seeing a Bentley recently. To think there was a time, not long ago, when a car was something that Chinese families did not even dare dream of owning.

There are other signs that China, which recorded growth of 9.7 per cent for the first quarter of the year, is rapidly emerging as an economic powerhouse, and embracing capitalism with enthusiasm. Beijing is now the busiest construction zone on the planet, with tens of thousands of migrant workers involved in a prolonged construction binge. High-rise hotels, apartments and office blocks are going up everywhere. Like car ownership, private house ownership is now also easier.

Hutongs and courtyards, a feature of Beijing life for centuries, are being demolished to make way for this construction spree. More than 100,000 residents have been displaced by massive projects in the last few years. The building frenzy is fuelled by huge foreign investment and the fact that state-run banks are throwing money at real-estate projects.

In 1949, when Mao became China's first communist leader, the residential floor space in Beijing was 4.75 square metres per person. This increased to 7.72 square metres in 1990. But by the end of last year the figure had more than doubled to reach 18.7 square metres. In the first quarter of 2004, investment in the construction industry reached US$519 million, an increase of 93.4 per cent on the same period in 2003.

I stood on the corner of the landmark Friendship Store in Jianguomenwai in the centre of Beijing last week, a stone's throw from the compound where we lived, and saw scores of half-built high-rises jutting skyward within a three-block radius.

I went across the road in search of one of our favourite Sichuan restaurants and couldn't believe my eyes to see that a high-rise glass office block stood in its place. Nearby Sammy's Café, a little Western oasis which served the nicest cup of coffee in Beijing, is also gone. The site where it once stood has been cleared for a development. And this rapid growth is not expected to diminish until after the 2008 Olympic Games.

One of the things I loved, and still love, about China is the kindness, gentleness and courtesy of the people. And the feeling of being safe on the streets. But even that appears to be changing a little.

When we lived in Beijing we often never bothered to lock our apartment door. We were happy for our son to cycle to a hutong near Yabao Lu to play with a friend. (I discovered that hutong too is gone when I went to check). We rarely heard of petty thefts or robberies. However, last week colleagues and friends warned me several times to watch my bag. A correspondent for an American magazine had two laptops stolen. The pace of life is faster, and people are in a hurry and not as laid back as before.

The old Chinese characters I got to know on my daily 10-minute walk from our apartment compound to my office in Ritan Park were not to be seen. The tough, wizened old woman who stood outside our compound gate waiting to earn a few RMB (local currency) transporting goods on her cart to the stalls in the nearby Silk Alley market was nowhere to be seen.

I use to watch in admiration as she beat off younger, male competition to bully her way to the top of the queue to bring the first load of the day. But Silk Alley, where I played a game of haggle with the traders most Saturday mornings, has been reduced to half its former size, and access from Ritan Dong Lu has been cut off. Joan, who owns stall number 45, tells me the market will soon be no more and will be moved into a new indoor building.

Past the Irish Embassy, I watched out for the hunchback man who cleaned diplomats' cars for a living. He always had a smile and wave. There was no sign of him either but, again, security along this road which houses the US embassy has greatly increased.

My old office building beside Ritan Park, where two elderly men used to sit gossiping every morning with their birds in cages perched beside them, has been transformed into an upmarket designer clothes market.

Some things haven't changed. The spitting, the filthy air, and the oppressive grey skies to mention a few. While Internet use is growing at an enormous rate, access is still curbed with some news websites and foreign newspapers blocked by the authorities.

It was weird and wonderful being back. But Beijing is losing lots of its traditional charm. What is emerging is a fast, modern, Westernised city. (Oh, and I just about beat the traffic to make it on time for my date with the Premier.)

mdonohoe@irish-times.ie