I had the opportunity to travel to Beijing for a presentation, and to meet the project architects, and development group. Beijing is an amazing city, that seems not quite sure what it wants to be right now. The gap between those well off and those that are not, is huge and evident everywhere you go. The roadways are packed with traffic, and I am not sure if riding or walking is a scarier experience. The taxi drivers drive like nascar drivers, but pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way ever (regardless of what a crossing signal indicates) so you constantly have to watch for cars, dodge them, and get honked at when you cross a street. Of course it probably doesn't help that people walk and ride bicycles on the highways.
The food is great, and there is so much history to see and explore. Much of the new architecture is very interesting, but of course much of the new housing developments are bland and generic, but likely a huge improvement over previous options. In China, architecture is king, and it seems the landscape, public plazas, and pedestrian ways are an after thought, and often very harsh - mostly consisting of hardscape (paving) and architectural features like fountains, statues, etc. The scale of Central Beijing is not very human, and it seems they have adopted the American system of auto induced sprawl, only on steroids.
Beijing Airport is huge! The ceiling lighting is almost starlike which only makes you feel smaller, but a very interesting place
Some typical apartment buildings along the highway. Not traditional, but also not new - maybe 80's-90's development. Beijing is definitely a city of patterns. Design one building and use it 30 times.
Typical "older" retail. Very similar to US strip malls.
Newer Standardized housing development. These types of towers dot the horizon in every direction.
View from the 62nd floor of the Hyatt Hotel's on the conference level. Pretty hazy, but this is the day before the big sand storm