The newly redone and refurbished Qianmen Avenue is now open as a pedestrian
street, complete with an early 20th century trolley car running down the middle. This is prime downtown
real estate just to the south of Tiananmen Square - that's the fifteenth century Ming Dynasty Qianmen
archery tower in the distance. I do not know if the new buildings along the side of the street are
authentic traditional Beijing styles, but they are certainly more pleasing to the eye than what was here
before. Unfortunately, virtually all of them remain empty. In fact one of the three tenants along the
way, Starbucks, pulled out after only a couple of months. The old Qianmen area was not much to look at,
but it was always crowded with people visiting its low cost shops and small restaurants, many of which
were well known throughout Beijing for their delicious and sometimes exotic fare. It's impossible to say
with certainty why the street still looks like an unused movie set six months after opening; but it is easy to guess - the
developers of the new area are asking astronomical rents for the street front properties and are not
getting any takers. In the meantime what used to be one of Beijing's most vibrant commercial areas is
now given over to a few strollers and picture taking tourists. |