More about our apartment

View from balcony:

Jianguomenwai Dajie (a major commercial thoroughfare that runs east-west through the heart of Beijing, and runs right across Tiananmen Square). Lots of pretty lights at night, with several very modern skyscrapers illuminating the evening haze of pollution. During days on which pollution is very low, off in the distance we can see the range of mountains that lace across the northwest corner of Beijing. Normally, however, pollution is such that it is not possible to see beyond a mile or two; everything else is lost in a pale fog.

The city officially has over 100 parks, though many of these parks are teeny little "green spaces" that offer little to Beijing residents. There are, however, some fairly impressive parks, several of which are associated with the ritualized lives of China's emperors back in the day. Some old, old trees in a few of those, and nearly all of them have classical Chinese bamboo architecture.

There are no visible waterways from our apartment, but the walk to the supermarket to the south of us crosses over a canal that cuts across central Beijing. It is chronically muddy, though, and there's no romance in walking by. There are some beautiful lakes elsewhere in the city, however, and they are well worth the trip.

To answer Kristi's question, Beijing's urban layout is unique among modern cities. Beijing has an unusual advantage for its city planners: if there is an established neighborhood right where it makes sense to build a highway, the central government simply issues an edict that the neighborhood is slated to be demolished and residents will have to move out. The government compensates residents, but it is important to note that protests will not stop the government from building that highway. As a result, Beijing has 5 concentric beltways (they are called "ring roads" here), with a sixth one being planned. Traffic flows aren't great, but they're no worse than Washington's traffic; the proliferation of ring roads and highways that act as spokes to connect the rings manage to make traffic bearable despite an urban population of some 20 million residents.