Beijing 10 April 2006
What brought me to Beijing? Politics? Philosophy? The reasons were quite pragmatic and “capitalist”: I needed a job and a Belgian company was looking for a victim to open their rep office in Beijing. The pay was good, the position challenging. And somehow I always felt that mysterious Far East was something I had to explore, after Brazil and Nigeria. So, there I went, against the advice of my friends: “Don’t go there, it’s too tough, you’ll get crazy”. Oh well, I was always a bit crazy anyway so it could become much worse. Could it? The first time I landed in Beijing was December 1980, after spending some time in the Belgian company to learn about their activities, about their China project and about China.

And this is how the main avenue looked like (no – not in some countryside), the famous Chang An Avenue, seen from the Jianguomenwai flyover (the bridge over the Second Ring Road East side). The only building in view was the Beijing Hotel.

October 2006: Valerie was right, so here you see how the avenue looked like in July 2006 – 25 years later. No comments needed here…