Boom Boom Beibei

Sometimes when I am walking around in Beibei I feel like I am in some sort of Charles Dickens novel.  Everything is covered in soot.  I keep my windows closed all the time because I don’t want to have to clean and wipe the whole apartment again after it gets all covered in it.   The sky is scorched out by the always existing smog (I have yet to see blue sky since I have been here).  Very poor air quality always has me coughing whenever I wake up in the mornings (it’s like smoking two packs of cigarettes per day).  Cheap manual labor is everywhere, the use of man power over machine power helps employ Chinas very large population.  There is massive coal usage, everything from making electricity to grilling the chicken on a stick that you just bought.  There is constant construction and you will find it in any direction that you look.  Beibei is in the process of building a subway system that will run all the way to the city of Chongqing.  Throughout the day I can hear and feel beneath my feet explosions (Boom Boom) from dynamite that are used to dig deep down into the ground for the subway tunnels.  There is a constant presence of beggars in downtown Beibei who have mutilated limbs from factory accidents.  Lastly, China is crowded and Chongqing province has a very high population density even for China (380/sq Kilometer). 

Now I don’t mean to paint a completely negative picture of China for you.  I am just trying to compare the setting of a Charles Dickens industrial novel to what I see in China.  I want to give you an understanding of the consequences that China lives with because of its need to develop so quickly.  The province of Chongqing is very important to the fast development of the western part of China, so as a result huge government and private investors pour tons of money into it.  Since my return to Chongqing province, I have been able to see how quickly that money got put to use (even though I have just been gone for two years).     

Not only have the cities developed, but so have trends and styles have as well.  I can remember even small things like finding a good cup of coffee being a challenge in Beibei.  Now there are more cafes than there are bubble tea stands and they look and feel like a cafés too.  Whenever I go to bars and clubs I can listen to music that is recently released.  Before, all you could listen to was pop music that was 8-10 years old (NSYNC and Backstreet Boys). 

I find it very fascinating seeing Beibei transform right before my eyes at such an explosive rate.  It will be interesting to see how much this place changes within my eleven month stay here.  Every night I fall asleep to sounds of Beibei growing, one stick of dynamite at a time.  Boom Boom Beibei.