There are nine million bicycles in Beijing

This post is dedicated to my fellow blogger and friend, T F Stern. He asked about the song and gave me the inspiration to write this entry on my recent trip to Beijing.

Opening line of Katie Melua's song "Nine Million Bicycles".

There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That's a fact,
It's a thing we can't deny
Like the fact that I will love you till I die.

It's a love song. Poignant. One can't change facts but what happens when the facts of the past are now no longer relevant? Will it change the fact that "I will love you till I die"?

Beijing has undergone a lot of change since I did an immersion programme in the Beijing Capital University in 2002. There were probably nine million bicycles in Beijing then. I would know. It wouldn't be a surprise if someone on a bicycle knocked me down.

With the Beijing Olympics looming, the Chinese government has put in a lot of effort to modernise the city.

Xiushui Jie (Silk Street), a cul-de-sac lined with peddlers who specialise in imitation goods such as LV, Prada and so on, have become a thing of the past. The peddlers have been relocated into a 7 storey shopping centre. But if there is any consolation about change, the goods they sold are still real fakes.

Recently, the Chinese were fined for spitting. Anti-social behaviour is now punishable in China. Soon, very soon, the toilets are going to get doors and working flush cisterns.

We are twelve billion light years from the edge,
That's a guess,
No-one can ever say it's true
But I know that I will always be with you.

Beijing has about 15 months to the Olympics. Opening Ceremony is on 8 Aug 08. If you didn't know yet, you heard it here first. 08 - 08 - 08. Or 8 - 8 - 8. Fa, fa, fa! Prosper, prosper, prosper. Typically Chinese superstition.

Many parts of Beijing have been rebuilt. Former empty plots of land are occupied by skyscrapers. I didn't recall Beijing had a metro. The city now does have one. Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital Airport will be open soon to meet the needs of travellers. Expansion and construction are the order of the day.

The Beijing of the past is fading away as the traditionists are clutching to it like a drowning man to straws. The recent uproar over Starbucks operating out of a corner in the Forbidden City just shows how much Beijing has moved with the times. But who are we to dictate the pace of a city and how it wants to change itelf?

I'm warmed by the fire of your love everyday
So don't call me a liar,
Just believe everything that I say

China of today is no longer like the past. People I meet tell me that the Chinese have become very professional. The best talent of the country study in Beijing's top universities and then very likely stay on in the city after their graduaton. They are learned and many invariably speak English. I was told the old days of bribing the folks to get what you want are no longer in vogue.

Things have changed. Political will, as can be seen in the clamp down of the officials who embezzled the pension funds, cascades down the ranks and people are shaking in their pants. Crooked folks think twice before making a move. For all it takes is probably RMB 2 to end a life - the cost needed to buy a round to end a life by firing squad.

There are six billion people in the world
More or less
and it makes me feel quite small
But you're the one I love the most of all

A sixth of the six billion people in the world reside in China. It has tremendous potential to "take over the world". It is nothing negative.

The glorious past, the teeming present and the promising fusion juxtaposed in a single city. The modern five-star hotels flanking the regal, if antique, Imperial Palace in a city welcoming the future. China is at cross-roads. What baggage should they leave behind and what traditions should they bring along to the future? The constant struggle to mould a new identity to herald in a new beginning in the changing world yet remaining true to the virtuous inner being. To add an identity without losing the self.

The pursuit of the future but not disregarding the foundations which anchored them in the past. The money trail is becoming very pervasive. Today, I read in the papers that China's share market has become second largest in the world. The Chinese have billions of savings waiting to be invested.

So many things are changing outside while I contentedly cultivate my pearl in my oyster shell. But having made this trip, I do indeed feel quite small.

We're high on the wire
With the world in our sight
And I'll never tire,
Of the love that you give me every night

In a year or so, Beijing will have the whole world's eye trained on it for at least 2 to 3 weeks. Whether I liked the city or not is of no importance. The world changes and moves along. There is little we can do to change. Just like...

There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That's a fact,
It's a thing we can't deny
Like the fact that I will love you till I die

And there are nine million bicycles in Beijing
And you know that I will love you till I die!