that's Central Business District, no big deal... btw.
Lena and I are making it a point to walk around Beijing to get to know the city a little better. The first of our many jaunts was a little stroll around the Central Business District. It doesn't sound very interesting, and I'm sure there are more beautiful or historical areas in the city, but we were already planning on being in the area, and there are definitely some things to see.
When we got out of the Guomao subway stop, we spotted the CCTV tower almost immediately. It's hard to miss. I really like the design, but I've always been a sucker for Moebius strips. Apparently Chinese folks aren't fond of it because they think it looks like underpants.
As we got closer, it became harder to see the building, because it is completely surrounded by an enormous banner. This is a pretty normal phenomenon here; lots of tourist/historical sites are partially or entirely blocked by large photos of the very same site.
The other notable building in the immediate vicinity was the World Trade Center tower, but it's really only notable for being the tallest building in the city. Actually, I thought it was more interesting that 330m is all it takes to be top dog in Beijing. Small pond, apparently. We walked around a bit more, and only when we were several blocks away did I notice the giant building right next to the CCTV moebius building. This other CCTV building looked to be under construction but, upon closer inspection...
That's right, it's a burned-out husk. This is a big inside joke here, because everyone saw it burn up, but it was never reported in the news. (Riddle me this: if CCTV is the only news here, who would be available to report on the CCTV building fire?) I'm not sure what the official status of the building is, but it's certainly not a very well-kept secret.
Our next stop was one of the countless "SOHO"s here in Beijing. I'm assuming that the simplest explanation is best, so I think that they're just named after the famous NYC neighborhood in order to seem a little more respectable, but it seems like that would lose its appeal after the 50th development named SOHO popped up. Nevertheless, if I was a particularly homesickness-prone Westerner, I would totally want to work/live here.
As you can see, huge modern art installations are pretty much ubiquitous when it comes to urban greenspace. It really did seem like a nice place to be, if not a cheap one. After this stop, we strolled through "the Place," which is an unbelievably opulent outdoor shopping mall. The pictures I took don't do it justice, so I'll just leave it up to your imagination.
On our way back to the subway, we hit up a couple more SOHOs, and here's a picture of the most interesting one. Until next time!
