Sparkle

With only 11 days left until the central government flips on the central heat in Beijing's buildings (think lots more coal dust in the air), I went out in search of what may soon be a rare commodity: the clean, bright, and shiny.

Laura and Peter bask in translucent paneling.


New subway faregates wrapped in pink plastic. The stations on the new Line 5 have Mozart piped in! (Everything that transit the obsessed will want to read about the new line.)


The Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall's model of the city.



Peter and I stand over our language center. (I have spent several minutes trying to decide how best to describe just which building it is before finally deciding that the truth here, much like when my teachers ask about the topography of my hometown, is irrelevant.)


The Hall also has an exhibit on the future of the standard of living in China. Apparently, all children will have floral lights projected above their beds. I tried to strike up a conversation with the guard about the unlikelihood of everyone in Beijing living in such large courtyard homes (before quickly adding that it is of course my dream that everyone does so). She was remarkably polite and said something about how the exhibit does in fact represent the future.


There was a gentleman playing a grand piano in the foyer of the hall, as well as gallery attendants in place to activate the energy-conserving motion-activated escalators.