organizing the masses
China’s got 1,3 billion people. More than 15 million live in its capital Beijing - of cause the officials know how to deal with big masses…
You find uniformed guards every where in the city, at every intersection, important bridge, public park, in front of houses, shops, museums and of cause also in front of the Palace Museum, also called the "Forbidden City".
At the beginning I had to get used to this aspect, because I don’t like it to be “controlled and watched”, but after a while I didn’t "see" these guards any more, they became part of Beijing for me.
It wasn’t actually the best idea to visit Beijing during their national holiday week. The photograph clearly shows what happens during those days, when the whole of China travels. You can say that at every important landmarks there are two or three times more visitors than during a normal day.
This was the view from my apartment (6th floor) in the Choayang district. Seven buildings belong to that complex where I stayed, three of them are still under construction. Of cause, it is only a very small part of the city. Right next to this place there are other building complexes, they all have nice "western" names such as: "Palm Springs" or "Park Lane Mansion"…