Ahead of the Games, A Cloud of Dust

Workmen adding a new entryway on my neighbor's house

Earlier this spring Beijing was hit by a small sandstorm. Or at least, I was told the city was hit by a small sandstorm. I didn't notice it myself, probably because my neighborhood has been swirling with construction dust for months. My neighbors will stop while hammering away on a new entryway to their homes, smile and declare, weile aoyun—“for the Olympics.”

Beijing's physical improvements ahead of the Games are about more than stadiums and subways. The work trickles down to the cramped alleys far off the tourist trail. The district where I live in Beijing's Dongsi area was first laid out during the Ming dynasty, and people here are proud of the history. A woman on Dongsi Batiao fought one of the most prominent battles against the rampant destruction of old hutongs. That isn't to say people don't want to see improvements. Many still have to rely on public bathrooms, which are especially unpleasant in the depths of winter and the peak of summer. Some people have to go to bathhouses to shower and cook outside over coal stoves. Now, for the price of about $40 a square meter the city government is helping people fix up their homes, and every day my neighbors are out sawing and roofing with enthusiasm.

Since I moved to the area last fall there's been a constant stream of change. The narrow street was ripped up and resurfaced, electric heating introduced, streetlights were added and even the old trees have been given identification tags. In our courtyard the front rooms of several people's houses—which were added haphazardly to the original stone buildings—were torn down and rebuilt out of a brick similar to the original structures. A couple houses have been leveled and rebuilt entirely. Sometimes it's sad to see old timbers painted with traditional designs piled on the street after demolition. But the migrant workers who have come to complete the reconstruction are ensuring that the new buildings match the old in appearance, if perhaps not in durability.

Even the building that housed a card room and an all-night “barber shop” (which appeared to offer services more shady than haircuts) has been torn down, and a nice new brick structure is going up in its place. No one is quite sure what will go in next, but perhaps we'll finally get a red light district we can be proud of.