拆. Chai. If there is one Chinese word that could encompass the wholesale destruction of culture, it would be this character. Painted on the outer walls of buildings, it marks hutongs for demolition, only to be replaced by the same generic, mass-produced, shops and eateries found in newly developed areas of the city. Much has been written and photographed on this subject. In an effort to keep up with a globalized world, Chinese cities are all too eager to “chai” the very qualities that make them unique, slap on the right brands and shiny fixtures to fit in with the cool kids.

My friend Simon (of Metavari fame <– woo! shameless plug. Acoustic wonderfulness) is fond of long bike rides. He’ll regularly hop on his massive steel bike, throw on some tunes and ride for four hours or more at a time. On one particular occasion, I joined him for one of these ambling rides. We zipped along the crowded streets, rode helmet-less against traffic, and for all extents and purposes, took little to no precaution with our safety. (In other wards, it was just a regular bike ride in China.)

I had a budding interest in documenting what was happening in the hutongs and Simon, true to form simply said “follow me.” A few hours later, I found myself standing literally in the rubble of peoples’ former lives. (I’m not kidding. There was even a Teletubby lying among the ruins.)

Maybe this gives you an idea of the quality of life (or some people’s priorities) we came across a jacuzzi after the wall had been torn out of this hutong.

A wall that remained in tact – gives you a sense of what it must have looked like before the sledgehammers came in.

Oh Simon, you do that rockstar-looking-into-the-far-off-distance MUCH too well.

As if Simon wasn’t an amazing enough friend to go on an adventure bike ride with me.. we came across a section of wall that remained in tact, and thus, a dead end. What to do.. what to do. Any sane person would have turned around but for Simon+Eva, it was up and over. This is what we saw when we climbed onto the roof tops.

My jaw hit the ground, I tell you. This is a siheyuan （四合院）a typical home of Beijing’s wealthy, which is built around an enclosed court yard. And there we were, running along the rooftops like some kung fu movie wannabe stunt doubles.

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Sometimes I wonder what I possibly did to merit such an adventure as coming to China.

We managed to find a way down from the roof tops and entered a stunning court yard. Can you believe this is all going to be demolished??

I suspect this was once a hotel or something from the wall paper of the rooms. Graffiti covered most of the walls.

Unbelievable.

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Tags: bike rides, chai, friends, Hutong, siheyuan