Beijing Welcomes You

A definitive, and highly entertaining, account of contemporary Beijing, the undisputed capital of the twenty-first century.Within the past decade, Beijing has debuted as the defining city of the now and foreseeable future, and China as the ascendant global power. Beijing is the ultimate representation of China's political and cultural capital, of its might-and threat. For so long, the city was closed off to the world, literally built around the Forbidden City, the icon of all that was ominous about China. But now, the country is eager to show off its new openness, its glory and magnanimity, and Beijing is its star. When Tom Scocca arrived in 2004-an American eager to see another culture-Beijing was looking toward welcoming the world to its Olympics four years later, and preparations were in full swing to create a renewed city.Scocca talked to the scientists tasked with changing the weather; interviewed designers and architects churning out projects; checked out the...