Planning Exhibition Hall

TanTan says she once drew a circle on an old map of Xi'an.

The apex of Xi'an in the high Tang period.

The circle pinpoints where she met her first almost-boyfriend.

A humble youth hostel packed with foreigners in 2019. In seventh-century China it would have been an official-only area where central bureaucrats managed the empire's affairs.

"What did your almost-boyfriend say about the circle?"

"He said when he booked the trip to China from San Francisco, he didn't really understand what he was getting into. Now he knows."

"Hm. You're so good at it, aren't you?"

"Sure thing. Always have been."

She rubs my face. Digs her finger into my belly. Teeth clenching.

She does this weird thing when she wants to get me to speak. Or shut me up.

So I'm never quite right about what she wants.

Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall 北京市規劃展覽館.

Here it is.

Week 2 of 2026. She wants us to see the maps of Beijing.

She's one of the most disoriented people I know in everyday life. So is her mom.

But she's a big fan of maps anyway.

And she invited her mom to join us.

Four floors. East of Qianmen, right off Tiananmen Square.

All about city planning: Beijing's past, present, future.

Standing in front of a huge 3D terrain model of present Beijing (1:750), TanTan says something:

"The space we live is forever messy. The space architects plan is forever ideal—symbols, status, functions, yeses and nos. To see the space ideally planned helps appreciate the space messily lived."

I agree.

Three moments worth mention:

1. Lakes.

We're finally clear about the lakes northwest and west of the Forbidden City: 西海, 後海, 前海, 北海, 中海, 南海. Lakes we walked, cycled and imagined.

2. Walls and ring roads.

Beijing's multilayered walls all disappeared except the Forbidden City's. They didn't leave nothing though. Look at the Second Ring Road 二環路. Rectangular, not circular. Tracing perfectly where the inner city wall stood.

3. Home.

We found our building (No. 8) on the huge terrain model. Finger-length high.

And most importantly,

I draw a circle there.