When I arrived in Beijing I did not really realized how close some neighbors might be. As I started strolling around with Noam, discovering my immediate surrounding while trying to locate the best grocery stores in the area (joining
l'utile à l'agréable), I stumbled into what appeared as a surreal world: the Russian Area.
Of course Russians and Chinese, at some point in history, shared common ideologies, about
communism, totalitarian way. Throughout the city, the Russian, a friendly state for a short period during Mao's reign, have left their imprint, leaving building that are more like monolithic blocs of stones that can only be seen from afar. Apart from these elements that could be called architecture of communism, trading is an activity that has been ongoing, as sharing such extremely long border must naturally permeate a number of goods and people daily.
Within Beijing, the Russian area is a trading and exchange area. Restaurants are lining the streets, with in between shipping offices sending huge ballots of clothes to Vladivostok and Moscow. Bars are numerous, and it is easier to be served in Russian than in English. Chinese is of course ok. Several pedicab (or rickshaws) are circling the streets, trying to bait the tourists. And crowds of fur clad women, fur had wearing men are strolling around the street. A new wholesale center, recently constructed, was our playground for an afternoon, with me and Pauli playing again the Russian couple (I am the silent Russian wife, while Pauli is pretending to buy one of something, to see if it will work for our
business). Lots of fun.
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