Last bayram, I traveled to Laos and Cambodia, and this bayram I've chosen China as my destination. The place where I stayed in Laos has already turned into what seemed like a small Parisian district, though it still maintained all its originality, too.
As for China, my first stop was the city of Beijing. But this city, the capital of dynasties, has become nothing but a bad imitation of New York, just like Tokyo. For years and years we debated the Japanese model of development, and now we have the Chinese model on the agenda for debate. No matter how much these two models may insist they are still true to themselves -- they have both given up on being themselves.
Beijing is in the midst of an unabashed period of growth. At night, it is lit up to the level of an amusement park; Las Vegas is nothing compared to this. It is impossible to see the real Beijing. To even get an idea of the real Beijing, you have to visit the houtongs, which are now stuck between massive skyscrapers. The houtongs are historical residential units designed like chess boards, which are left over from the Mongol Empire's Yuan Dynasty. In Mongolian, houtong means “shared water well.” These districts are houtongs because the people who lived here got their water from a single shared well. Not only water, but toilets were also shared. It is still this way in some of these areas, with so many public toilets shared by people in these districts that you'd be very surprised: People wait in line in China's famous cold weather for many minutes to use toilets.
More recently, China's renowned globalization process in combination with Beijing's extraordinary population explosion have been the ruination of historic ancient city ramparts, which have paid a price for this rapid growth: many old structures have been eliminated to be replaced by enormous, soaring skyscrapers, and the destruction has targeted many houtong districts. The changes that have occurred in the West over the past 200 years have been compressed into 20-30 years in China, destroying historical architecture and culture. If not for signs written in Chinese, it would be impossible to know whether you were in an American city or Beijing. Everywhere you look you see ultra modern, multi-storied buildings. And the competition to see who can build these structures faster continues. There are cranes on every corner… Yes, there is development going on here, but where is China?
Why do all these big cities have to resemble one another? These skyscrapers all appear to have been constructed by the same hand, each one boasting ground floor stores selling well-known global brands. Roads have been expanded to five to six lanes but are still unable to accommodate all the traffic. The only real houtongs left are touristic ones, and these are like enormous touristic shopping malls. They are full of cafes, bars, restaurants and stores. Meanwhile, the original houtongs have become residential districts for the very rich: Homes with courtyards but measuring only 80-100 square meters cost millions of dollars.
Beijing is an example of monotonous urbanization. It is a global city boasting a Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonalds on every corner. From the perspective of business, it is indisputable that living standards have risen. But what about ties to history and a unique culture? One day in the future will we find ourselves heading to China to see a Great Wall of China completely constructed from scratch, all in the name of restoration?
In a world where everything appears to be becoming more and more alike, travel is fast losing its meaning. The more one travels, the more one feels as though one is watching some sort of science fiction film. We live in a world where more and more seems to be exactly the same everywhere, where the air and the seas have become completely polluted, a world filled with dangers we cannot even comprehend. And while focusing on development and advancements, it seems we have arrived at a point where everything has become monotonous: A world where no region seems any different from any other, where the buildings, roads, foods and even wines are all the same. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or if the world has just started seeming more boring to me. Anyway, happy bayram to you all…
And one final note: travel as much of the world as you can before it all becomes the same out there. Soon there might not be anything left worth seeing.
