Even after receiving people’s opinions on life in Beijing, China, whether full-time residents or term abroad students, their input could not have prepared me for the things I would think and feel during my first week there.
It has been one week since I landed in this gigantic, nerve- racking, yet extraordinary metropolis. Every part of it surprises me, from the food, the language, the transportation system, the local ideas of common courtesy, to the fashion.
Not only is it vastly different from what I see in the West, but, like in many other places, it has a different atmosphere in each part of the city. I can’t yet speak with a refined or knowledgeable eye, but purely from observation of the few areas I have visited.
What comes to my mind first when I think about what makes it different from the U.S., would probably be the fashion trends. The first place in which I was exposed to this was in the largest mall I have ever seen, called San Li Tun, or San Li Tur, as pronounced by Beijing locals. As opposed to New York City, long, simple, yet not specifically tight, clothing seems to characterize a lot of what I saw. Most women wore the same style of clothing, usually being a single colored, knee length coat, a pair of wavy black pants and a blouse. These fairly plain outfits were all made more interesting with bright shoes and bold, yet coordinating accessories such as sunglasses, a (very common) hat topped with a pom pom, or a striking lip color .
In a calmer setting, such as the one I live in, the Haidian District, the fashion has been less noticeable, which is not necessarily a bad thing. In Manhattan, I see that every neighborhood has a defined style, even if it’s not the one portrayed in blogs and magazines. However, in Beijing, I don’t get a sense that these codes exist. In the neighborhoods that I have seen, fashion does not seem to have importance in daily life.
One aspect of Chinese fashion that I enjoy are the students’ uniforms. My host sister understandably hates it, however, being a tourist, I can’t help but enjoy it. In the public school system, kids of all ages are required to wear full, track suit looking uniforms. I think that those uniforms will forever represent how students in Beijing look to me because this kind of uniform does not exist in the world I live in or grew up in.
Even if the fashion that I have seen in the past week does not strike me to be shockingly different from what I know, it completely supports the image that I have of Beijing in the moment: a diverse and spirited city, in which I will never stop being surprised.
