Two months ago this was a bustling part of Zhengzhou. Now it is slated for demolition.
It is one of the old villages, swallowed up by the city. By comparison with the city, the buildings have been thrown up haphazardly, the result of individual decisions rather than city planning. But now the city planners are eliminating the old villages, to replace them with planned communities of skyscrapers.
Unfortunately, the most interesting life of the city is in these old villages. This is where you would go to pass by dozens of street hawkers slaving away over portable stoves, making egg crepes, or wraps of spam, lettuce, and hot sauce; or steamed buns stuffed with jam or red beans. Nearby, women would soak bamboo filled with sweet sticky rice. At any moment, a kung-fu demonstration might break out.
These places were crowded—moving through the crowd was like moving through a river—sometimes you were fighting the torrent; at others, you were swept along. A constant blaring of horns from cars trying to force their way through the mob. Where the flow narrowed, the cars would have to stop, and the blockage would grow as it incorporated dozens of scooters and old women with strollers. Once in awhile a street performer would balance on a plank atop a wheel, flipping bowls in the air from the end of the plank to catch them on her head. Elsewhere, a tournament of old men playing chess, complete with clocks. Music lessons on the street. Old men practicing calligraphy.
Now it is one of the biggest playgrounds in the world.
All of it will be replaced by this (snow not necessarily included). The only thing that happens here is old ladies playing with their grandchildren.
This is what is lost in the name of progress.
Edit (June 2019): There was a TVO documentary last year (episode 4) specifically about the dismantling of this part of the city, as an example of similar actions in other cities. The plan was to split the large camps of wandering farmers up from capitals into several smaller cities around the capital. Spoiler: it's not a very happy story
It is one of the old villages, swallowed up by the city. By comparison with the city, the buildings have been thrown up haphazardly, the result of individual decisions rather than city planning. But now the city planners are eliminating the old villages, to replace them with planned communities of skyscrapers.
Unfortunately, the most interesting life of the city is in these old villages. This is where you would go to pass by dozens of street hawkers slaving away over portable stoves, making egg crepes, or wraps of spam, lettuce, and hot sauce; or steamed buns stuffed with jam or red beans. Nearby, women would soak bamboo filled with sweet sticky rice. At any moment, a kung-fu demonstration might break out.
These places were crowded—moving through the crowd was like moving through a river—sometimes you were fighting the torrent; at others, you were swept along. A constant blaring of horns from cars trying to force their way through the mob. Where the flow narrowed, the cars would have to stop, and the blockage would grow as it incorporated dozens of scooters and old women with strollers. Once in awhile a street performer would balance on a plank atop a wheel, flipping bowls in the air from the end of the plank to catch them on her head. Elsewhere, a tournament of old men playing chess, complete with clocks. Music lessons on the street. Old men practicing calligraphy.
Now it is one of the biggest playgrounds in the world.
All of it will be replaced by this (snow not necessarily included). The only thing that happens here is old ladies playing with their grandchildren.
This is what is lost in the name of progress.
Edit (June 2019): There was a TVO documentary last year (episode 4) specifically about the dismantling of this part of the city, as an example of similar actions in other cities. The plan was to split the large camps of wandering farmers up from capitals into several smaller cities around the capital. Spoiler: it's not a very happy story
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