We lived down this alley, turning left here, at the new wall that was built while we were there. I often joked that the national pasttime in China was demolition and reconstruction. It was no accident that one of Merlin's favorite things to say was "backhoe," accompanied by much pointing and general merriment. I'm sure our neighborhood has changed completely since the time we were there. So many buildings were marked as "condemned" or rather "knock-down." Unfortunately it was often the buildings with great character that were due to be removed to make way for tall, impersonal apartment buildings.
From here (left) we'd continue about 25 yards to a courtyard on the right - we lived on the first floor of a 5 or 6 story building. A building had been constructed just south of our building so we only got a strip of sunlight in the kitchen for a few minutes a day. In the winter instead of staying in the house to warm up, it was better to go outside to stand in the sun.
The picture on the right is the gateway leading to an old house down the alley from us, also seen below. The character on the right gatepost is "chai" indicating that the compound and surrounding buildings will be torn down.
Below are the early stages of neighbor-hood "im-provement."
I won't really have a frame of reference for Beijing (having only been there once, 14 years ago), pictures I see of it now look very modern and "rebuilt." It's a pity because there's a very colloquial character to the old neighborhoods, a sense of something unique and a feeling that interesting secrets will be revealed around the next corner....
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