Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sport options to keep the kids entertained, and the schools have a lot to do with that. It
would be an unusual choice, however, for singles or couples without kids to move out here.
There is next to no nightlife by city standards, bars and restaurants are also comparatively
few, and to get to the city it takes 30 minutes to an hour or more, given good or bad traffic
conditions. Plus, if you don't have a personal driver, you'll have the constant anxiety of not
being able to get a taxi, let alone a driver who won't ask you to get out when you tell him
or her where you want to go.
The character of Shunyi may actually be about to change dramatically over the next few
years. New apartment complexes are being constructed at lightning speed out here by the
government in an effort to alleviate the squash of the inner city. These are not luxury apart-
ments, which until now, have been the signature abode of Shunyi. They are the apartments
of the everyman. They are not being built out of sight in the far reaches of the district,
but side by side with the gated villa compounds and the sweeping grounds of the impress-
ively appointed international schools. At the last census in 2010 Shunyi had a population of
877,000 people—here's wondering what that figure will be in 2020 when the next census is
due.
