Getting lost in a familiar, but fast-changing place

Never before had I found myself so lost. To my right, crowds of people swarmed in and out of a new light-rail station. To my left, tall buildings loomed above an overpass. If I had been led to this spot blindfolded, I would have guessed I had come to Zhongguancun, or another bustling commercial street in downtown Beijing.

Yet I was far from the city center, in Tongzhou district, a region that had seemed to me to be on the eastern outskirts of Beijing when I had studied at a nearby university 15 years ago. One of my best friends owns an apartment in Tongzhou, and I was on my way to meet her there.

I first tried to follow the same route I'd taken when I last visited her, three years ago. I remembered a narrow old bridge spanning a historic section of the Grand Canal - but this time, I didn't spot a trace of the ancient waterway. Thick clouds obscured the skyline, making it even harder to get my bearings.

I stopped walking and called my friend for help. Yet she hardly knew the district herself.

I called home. My husband tried to pinpoint my location via Google Maps. But many of the online maps hadn't been updated to reflect the new buildings around me.

For a moment, I regretted that I had not purchased a GPS navigational system. A friend said that once, on a bird-watching expedition, he had used GPS to navigate in a forest hundreds of miles from Beijing. The system had even alerted the hikers to the presence of a military camp nearby.

However, I had never thought seriously about buying an expensive GPS system. I'd heard that some GPS databases are updated just once a year. Across China, and especially in big cities like Beijing, new roads are built and expanded on a much more frequent basis.

Luckily, I spotted a police car. A friendly officer was quite happy to help me with directions. It seems the police often meet lost travelers like me. "Go all the way down east, you'll find the Grand Canal; cross it, turn north and from there you'll need to ask for further directions."

I drove ahead with renewed confidence. Soon a large expanse of dark green water came into sight. The barren banks I had remembered were now covered with newly planted greenery.

At a grand bridge with impressive lamp posts, I hesitated. Maybe the old bridge had been replaced for good?

At one of the many enclosed communities that had mushroomed up along the well-paved broad streets, I sought help from some elderly people. Their suggestion finally led me to my friend.

"We bought our apartment for less than 5,000 yuan ($735) per sq m. Now the price has more than doubled," said my friend with a grin.

On my way back, I was amazed to find the old bridge. In fact, it was just a few hundred meters from where I had first called for help. Will it still be there on my next visit? Given the speed of China's development, I slowed down to savor the moment as I crossed the old bridge.

(China Daily 07/02/2008 page20)