Pretending to live a life? Controversial article about Beijing polarizes opinion

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A recent online article entitled "In Beijing, 20 million people are pretending to live a life" went viral at the weekend and sparked a debate on life in the Chinese capital.

On Thursday, People's Daily published a rebuttal, denouncing what it claimed was a "pretend life" that has been lived by both locals and immigrants.

Traffic in Beijing/VCG photo‍

20 million people pretending to live a life?

Attracting five million views overnight, the essay by blogger Zhang Wumao depicts how old Beijing has transformed into an expensive and indifferent metropolis that neither locals nor outsiders can call home.

Further, the article goes on to say that the city's "tumor-like" expansion and the congestion that goes with it has taken away the city's human warmth.

"It is equivalent to 2.5 times Shanghai, 8.4 times Shenzhen, 15 times Hong Kong, 21 times New York, or 27 times Seoul," Zhang went on, concluding that Beijing is so big that it is simply not like a city at all.

"Beijing belongs to outsiders," claimed the essay. With the vanishing of familiar Hutongs and mushrooming of skyscrapers, Beijing has become a strange place for locals.

"They can't move, they can't breathe," argued Zhang, as what left for them is more and more the feeling of suffocation due to the smog and the soaring house prices.

"For Beijing's new immigrants, the city is a distant place where they can't stay; for its old residents, it is an old home they can't return to."

The essay then ended with, "There are over 20 million people left in this city, pretending to live a life."

A subway view in Beijing./China government website

The People's Daily bites back

But People's Daily was quick to argue with the article.

"Admittedly, difficulties exist in Beijing. However, we all are leading a new life rather than faking it," the opinion piece commented.

All the difficulties derived from the high cost of living in megacities have been offset by other benefits, the piece said.

"Albeit the endless inconveniences, many more are flooding into these metropolises. They voted by rational decision-making after weighing up cost and benefits. Commuting between Huilongguan (a crowded community in north part of Beijing) to the CBD district (in east) could be exhausting, yet how about the growth potential? One would stay if it's worth it."

Regarding what Zhang claimed to be the indifferent environment in Beijing, the editorial said that the relatively low level of closeness between people is a prevalent feature of "modern life."

"To escape big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or not, it depends on personal opinion. Either option can not be defined as leading a pretended life."

The piece ended by affirming that Beijing would never grow like a "tumor" but will develop full of hope.

Millions on the move during Spring Festival, the biggest holiday in China./China government website

Sparking debate in China

Ever since it was published, the article has been widely debated by both media and social media users.

On Weibo, China's state broadcaster CCTV responded, condemning the essay for purposely polarizing the relationship between locals and newcomers.

"In reality, Beijing is not as cold as it is described. We all know that it won't be easy to live in a big city. The future of Beijing is in the hands of competent, daring and hardworking people pursuing their dreams," it said.

The country's Xinhua News Agency lashed out, arguing that behind the words is not the "fakeness" of Beijing, but the clamor of the author's emotions about "coming to Beijing."

Netizens seem more divided, with some applauding Zhang's article, while others have taken offense.

"I work overtime to 9:30 p.m., commute by bus and subway, arrive at home at 11:38 p.m., and now I just lie down in bed, but what I am living is a real life," said @sanjindaren233.

"So as the author suggested, is life all about a house? I am enjoying the prosperity of Beijing and I am contributing to it. Thinking about the future, I feel so energetic even though I live in this teeny tiny sharing apartment. I can't afford a life abroad and don't wanna escape, but I'm living, not pretending, my life," wrote @jokerker.

(Front pic: In Beijing, 20 million people are pretending to live a life)

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