I worked in Beijing, China for a few years. And before I left Beijing for Vancouver BC, I thought I should have a closure with Beijing, a city that was my home for five years. I decided to make a video about Beijing through my eyes because people lead different lives in the same city and I wanted to share mine with you. A corner of the ancient city wall in Beijing, a snapshot from the video ![snap.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcQkm1CFmPKk48dhHoQ53zXj6XzoKXHKNQb5arLm5Fx7V/snap.jpg) I shot the video using various methods with my Gopro - mounted the camera on different parts of my bike, carried it on a gimbal and walked around, and placed it on a tripod. This is a very personal video and because I was leaving, it's also a sad video. A little bit of background info might help you to understand lives or at least my life in Beijing. In short, China was dirt poor when the Communist Party came to power in 1949 and Beijing was made the capital city. The country then went through turmoils like the Great Leap, Cultural Revolution, Tian An Men Incident (borrowed term from my history book in school). But since 1978, when the Reforming and Opening Up policy started, China has made tremendous economical development and now is the second biggest economy in the world. Top tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen become huge international cities that hold tens of millions of people. Beijing on a good air day ![IMG_5365.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQg5QigpZawTmZtzsH1KBsvApJuymgCkjJL1bUVfQvPLx/IMG_5365.JPG) Skyline of The Bund in Shanghai ![Snapseed.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmfPYRuM9g85CXETnFg5UjuuHpUbeiyfnAP2yEjSUW6kMu/Snapseed.jpg) But fast increase in GDP numbers come at a cost, be it pollution, long working hours, poor food safety, traffic congestion, high inflation, or super intense job market competition. Any of the above can cause serious issues to people's physical and mental health, and the situation is much worse in cities like Beijing. Working class, including myself, often finds themselves struggling financially, physically, or mentally. As beautiful and amazing as Beijing is in so many ways, it's just not easy to feel secure, belonged, or simply happy; but rather helpless, anxious, or even filled with despair, especially for young people who came to Beijing to pursue their dreams. View from my apartment in Beijing on a smoggy day ![IMG_9047.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmP91qKjUjeDUPZt2QMc9QASXBxW896ejh39nJcb1CgYDk/IMG_9047.JPG) People waiting to get on subway during rush hour, photo by CCTV News ![1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmf4tf41o349AdTyk5e4pTA9a781F4syzuNm9pBBPuAJRm/1.jpg) Beijing is like a stunning rose that attracts you and can make you bleed when you hold it. With all that said, I hope you can make more sense of the video and I truly hope you like it.

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nateren