Voices

Beijing borderlands are sore sights

By Joseph Christian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-27 07:51

The subway on line 5 came to a jerking stop at Lishuiqiao station. As the doors slid open people jostled for position and quickly streamed toward the exit. I followed the current and after scaling an imposing set of steps my already perspiring body was hit by the hot noonday sun. I was entering Beijing's borderlands the forgotten, ill-cared for confluence of Beijing's Chaoyang and Changping districts. My surroundings resembled a movie set depicting urban decay, but the area was far from disserted. A group of vendors were busily serving pancakes from their carts and the unmistakable rotten stench of stinky doufu wafted through the air.

Out in the open the crowd began to disperse. I followed one group toward a footbridge. As I climbed the stairs I was taken aback by their terrible condition. A warm gust of wind blew dirt into my face and I spat to clear the grit from my mouth. Where were those orange vested street cleaners when you needed them? The rails of the footbridge were covered in illegal advertisements. I guess if I ever need a one-day room rental or fake certificate then at least I know where to go to get them.

In the middle of Beijing or at the foreign hotspots in Chaoyang district such sights are rare, but not to the north of Lishuiqiao subway station in Beijing's borderlands.

There in between a shopping center and a dingy hotel stands a bus stop that marks the border between Chaoyang and Changping districts; between urban and suburban.

Such a border might not seem important until you consider the impact it has on life in the area. A friend of mine who lives in the area enlightened me to the situation.

According to him no one wants to take care of the border area. Chaoyang says its Changping's responsibility. Changping scoffs and points the money-laden finger of responsibility back at Chaoyang. In the mean time the area becomes more dilapidated and shady characters move in.

I have never truly felt unsafe in Beijing, but one time, at dusk, when I was at the bus stop that marks the border I had a feeling of uneasiness. Maybe I was overreacting due to my friend's stories, or maybe it was the creepy looking guy, his hands grasping at something in his pockets while staring at me that did the trick. Even if the area really isn't as dangerous as downtown Detroit it still is a mess and a birthing place for bizarre incidents.

One day as I made my way down the footbridge from the subway station I noticed a group of men milling about with jackhammers, saws, and sledgehammers. At first I was a little alarmed.

"Were they some kind of thugs or a protest in progress?" I thought to myself.

But my worries were soon put at ease when I saw little sandwich boards placed on the sidewalk in front of them advertising their daily rates. It had been a long time since I had seen a pick up place for day workers in Beijing. I thought that before the Olympics the city had gotten rid of these pick up points to improve the city's image. But here in Beijing's largely unregulated borderlands they don't worry that someone will drive them off the streets.

Another point in case involved a group of Tibetan street vendors. Anyone who has walked the streets of Beijing knows that there are quite a few Tibetans that sell jewelry and various other crafts from their home, but here, in the borderlands, they also sell massive knives. Let me make it clear, I am not talking about pocket knives or switch blades, I am talking about knives that could easily take off a limb. There they were laid out in full display. Given the recent spat of knife attacks in China I was shocked to see such weapons sold so openly right next to a subway station that forbids them.

The borderland area is not a free for all, but neither is it pleasant. Given the fact that many new residential communities are being built in the area, Chaoyang and Changping need to stop quarreling over responsibility and cooperate to effectively deal with the border areas.

For me it's a nuisance for the few times I travel there every month, so I can only imagine how bad it is for those, such as my friend, who live in the area permanently. It doesn't take a lot of money to clean up the streets, but someone has to do it. A bit of cooperation and teamwork would go a long way to make Beijing's borderlands a little more livable.