18 Aug 2006 Beijing – Into the jaws of the city

They gather as swarms of ants positioned insecurely on the precipice of…someone's certain death, somewhere down the line. With other factors behind the scenes, like the lack of an adequate public transport system in one of the world's most dense metropolises, with every thrust and bit of early morning force they can muster, they surge into the jaws of the city to pounce on their prize.

Don't panic - it's just a part of everyday life here in China's capital - the peak-hour subway ride. But I'm scared - what is happening to me? I can safely recall that bar on one occasion (when I just couldn't be fucked to endure it) I have managed to seize a seat in the peak-hour ride from my home in the east to my workplace 19 stations out west. Today, as I occupy my seat, I’m aware of one pretty girl who has noticed, as the transformed laowai conforms himself to the laws of the jungle. With strategic positioning of arms, legs and carry bag, the laowai has himself lurched through those city jaws and selfishly pounced. Her all-too-piercing, yet sweet grin delivers me the realisation of how fast my legs just strode through the chasm and how fixed was my determination to acquire the saving grace of a seat. She seems a bright spark in a sea of mostly unpleasant curiosity.

Now I can only just spot her, two metres away and directly opposite on the other side of the carriage. But her beautiful nature is confirmed in my mind as she slowly melts into a sweet slumber, with a trained power to obliviate from her senses the intense reality all around her. I know she, like me, pounced on her seat after a careful set of manoeuvres and force, which commenced as soon as she hit the platform. But she is subconsciously aware, and as she wakes five stops later and peers again my way, she seems now only slightly curious - there's far more on this young girl's mind. One of 14 million (or is it 20?) she has a soul, she has her hopes and dreams. As she tries to forget the challenges of her situation, can this city - this country for that matter - afford so many hopes and dreams? Can it? Well, come on - take a seat back. It can't. Development has to crack. And when a state religion cracks, does that not mean the seeds of a revolution? For certain there are a multitude of seeds, but it seems they keep growing into genetically modified plants. But surely the fertiliser is going to run out.

This place, with all its force and power, still remains one big, gigantic mystery.

Her look is indecisive and completely uncertain as she departs the train at the second junction on the loop line, having to confront and weave through the swarm of surging beasts into the carriage. What other hardships must she endure before reaching her office cubicle?