flâneur

2021 letter | Dan Wang

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Getting worse and getting better; Jesuits; common prosperity; Rossini's glittering realm; slow-casual chains; Lem's ocean; vowelsongs.

(This piece is my year in review; here’s my letter from 2020 ) I’ve by now lived in each of China’s main megaregions. It is time to make assessments. Everything that can go wrong in urban design has gone wrong in Beijing. The climate is arid and prone to northerly sandstorms. Its streets are unwalkable, but a stroll would reveal that its imperial heritage, made up of alley houses called hutongs, is slowly being taken over by its socialist heritage, made up of gray Soviet blocks that tower over all. Beijing is therefore a desert steppe city with Stalinist characteristics. A decade ago, the city

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