2017 was a year of change for Beijing, but then again what year since 1421 hasn’t been a year of change for the city?
Even so, China’s capital looks very different than it did this time last year. As sad as it was to lose Más, Cellar Door, El Nido, the original Slow Boat Taproom, and other well-known and beloved watering holes and other foreigner-friendly businesses, the ever-widening project to transform the city into a Potemkin Peking took a tragic turn at the end of the year. Thousands of economic migrants – and not a few foreign residents – were affected by the city-wide demolition of “non-standard” housing. The city took a public relations hit for evicting folks just as the weather turned colder, but workers continue to raze structures across Beijing.