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“Today, a cityscape in Beijing is like a scene right out of The Jetsons cartoon series,” says John Pomfret, the author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China. “It’s surreally postmodern. Take the image of the grand opera house [National Centre for the Performing Arts] (right)— the ‘dinosaur egg,’ as the Chinese people call it. The structure is made of titanium and looks like it’s floating on a lake. It’s postmodern and would even be shocking in New York City, not to mention Beijing, one of the oldest capitals in the world.”
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PhotographY by Nikolas Koenig INTERVIEW with John Pomfret by susan weissman
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left: China Central Television building, Chaoyang District below: Shopping area, Wangfujing District
In his book, Pomfret explores China’s evolution. It is his account of time spent in China as a student at Nanjing University in the early ’80s and during subsequent periods over the next 20 years as a news correspondent for the Associated Press and The Washington Post. Here he talks about the effect of the new economy on the Chinese lifestyle: “With greater access to wealth, everyone wants the latest fashions, goods for their homes, access to the latest films and technology. The Chinese are very good early adopters of all technology. Don’t be surprised if you see a guy riding on a very old bicycle talking on a mobile phone. That being said, he is probably going to upgrade to a car in the next few years.”
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left: Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 3, Chaoyang District above: Door detail from Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Chaoyang District
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Visitors to China’s capital for this summer’s XXIX Olympic Games are likely to be awestruck by a country in flux. Pomfret himself is amazed by the transition and comments on the structure of the Chinese family and everyday values. “History has been compressed for the generation that now runs China: people in their 40s and 50s. They were born into a country that believed in one thing—Chairman Mao. Now they are running a country that worships another—wealth.”
this spread: Old meets new in the Wangfujing District next spread: Financial Street, Xicheng District 130 000
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