Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Běijīng Today
Beijingers are stoic people. But even the most reserved of the city's 19 million inhabitants have been left gasping,
as well as proud, at the way Běijīng has reinvented itself in recent years. As China's incoming leader Xi Jinping
prepared to take charge of an increasingly influential nation, Beijingers were bracing themselves for life in the
capital of a true world superpower. Rampant corruption and growing inequality are major concerns, though, and
maintaining harmony could be Xi's number one challenge ahead.
Best on Film
Beijing Bicycle
(2001) Lavish yet realistic film following a young and hapless Běijīng courier on the trail of his
stolen mountain bike.
Lost in Beijing
(2007) Close-to-the-bone, modern-day tale of a ménage-a-quatre involving a young woman, her
boss, her husband and her boss's wife. Banned in China.
Cell Phone
(2003) Hilarious satire of the city's rising middle classes, by Běijīng director Feng Xiaogang.
The Last Emperor
(1987) Bernardo Bertolucci's multi-Oscar-winning epic, charting the life of Puyi during his
accession and the ensuing disintegration of dynastic China.
Best in Print
Rickshaw Boy
(Lao She, translated by Shi Xiaoqing, 1981) A masterpiece by one of Běijīng's most beloved
writers about a rickshaw-puller living in early 20th-century Běijīng.
Beijing Coma
(Ma Jian, 2008) Novel revolving around the democracy protests of 1989 and the political coma
that ensues.
Midnight in Peking
(Paul French, 2012) Gripping account of the mystery surrounding the brutal murder in 1937
of Englishwoman Pamela Werner.
