human walls

You see them everywhere, in front of every building, compound or community: guards. They come in different price ranges. The expensive ones at the hotels and condominiums are like military officers or smartly dressed vigilantes with red berets. The more reasonable variety dresses in what looks like Soviet army surplus supplies (always at least ten sizes to big), often a red band around their arm makes them look even more like peoples army. They live in lobbies, little offices, sometimes places no bigger than a broom closet.

The picture above shows the guards outside my building. At night the doorman resides in the pillar behind the woman. Only a thin line of light under the door indicates that someone is dozing inside.
They seemed pretty useless at first, just another case of shared poverty. But three days ago I saw them come into action.

We were having dinner with people who are all somehow involved with Koolhaas' CCTV building. At some point phones started to ring, the building is on fire! We got in a taxi. We had to walk the last two miles: only emergency vehicles and busload upon busload of soldiers could get through.

It was impossible to get close to the action. A human wall of military (two or three rows thick) cordoned off the entire area. We went into the lobby of a hotel just opposite the burning building. It turned out to be the place where all the politicians came to oversee the proceedings. Needless to say I was soon asked to stop photographing.

I decided to walk around the CCTV building to get some angels (felt quite the reporter by now) and this is when the whole doorman concept became clear.
In every city there are alleys, bushes and building sites that allow some kind of informal access. Not so in Beijing. Buildings, courtyards and fences constitute walls.The smallest cracks are filled with one uniformed character after another, smiling or growling. They are the cement with which whole areas can be closed off. Quite sensible of cause, burning buildings are not to be trifled with.
I joined forces with a photographer from the Beijing Evening News. To no avail, none of the lobby staff of the hotels or office buildings would let us get up to take a picture, not even the immigrant workers of an unfinished building would have us (for a bribe).



By the time we got there the show was over. I now realize that the best way to photograph a burning skyscraper is not to try and get under it. A real reporter would have taken the image comfortably from the window of a friend in high places (20th floor would do it), drink in hand (I begin to suspect that most expats are alcoholics) and the ear to the ground from a save and critical distance.
The next day searches for "cctv tower fire" only came up with sites that were blocked. Only CNN was available. CCTV themselves hardly mentioned the incident. The best way to get information in Beijing are the personal blogs. Marginal enough that the censor does not bother with them.