Beijing: Emerging From The Smog

What a study in contradictions.

We took the subway out to the Olympic stadium this morning. The subway cars, and each of the stations that we passed through, were spotless. Uniformed women swept the floors and scrubbed the station walls. Everything is state of the art and the system is so well organized that even a cave man couldn't get lost. This is clearly the product of a modern, efficient and above all prosperous society.

Upon emerging from the station, not more that 3 blocks from the bird's nest, we could barely make out the the stadium. It was completely shrouded in smog. Between the coal fired plants that supply this sprawling city's insatiable power demands, and the cars that clog the freeways, clean air doesn't stand a chance.

Parts of Beijing resemble Los Angles: bulky high rises, setback from each other by massive cold concrete plazas and surrounded by freeways. Older neighborhoods are vanishing, seemingly overnight. In parts of the city, a structure is "historical" if it went up in the 1980s. Very LA.

In the shadows of the new high rises, a few islands of old Beijing endure. Vendors sell mystery meats cooked over charcoal fires in ground floor storefronts of low slung buildings accessible only by incredibly narrow lanes (hutongs). These neighborhoods, while picturesque for us tourists, are a reminder of the huge income disparates that have emerged over the last 15 years.

But this city is filled with the young and prosperous. Every conceivable luxury good can be found here. In the central shopping district, Louis Vuitton stores are as prevalent as Benetton once was in cities like New York and D.C.

Celebrity chefs have also landed in Beijing. Tonight we are off to Daniel Boulud's newest outpost: Maison Boulud. Cutting edge French restaurants will not be playing much part in our lives in a few days so we are going to enjoy this now while we can.