Living in Zhengzhou

Zhengzhou is a city that is in a state of flux. The Chinese government has designated Zhengzhou as the transportation hub of the country. Consequently old neighborhoods of street markets and street vendors are being torn down to be replaced by tall apartment buildings and shopping centers. It seemed that every block had banks, cell phone stores, and restaurants; yet were no coffee shops, except for the occasional Starbucks. There is construction everywhere, the sound of jackhammers never ends. There is a layer of dust over everything. The city is a study in contrasts from the families who lived in the street markets and store fronts to the CBD (Central Business District) with modern hotels, shopping, and parks. However, the roads are the same everywhere; full of buses, cars, taxis, and e-bikes. No traffic rules. Roads under construction. E-bikes and cars parked on the sidewalks.

When we first came to Zhengzhou we lived in a neighborhood of street markets and vendors. There were carts full of fruits and vegetables. Women selling dumplings and noodles. Store fronts selling toys, clothing, paper goods, and e-bikes. There were some areas that had open space. Sometimes there were toys and playground equipment there were kids could play. At the end of August this neighborhood was designated to be torn down and new construction would begin. It was amazing! Over one weekend all of these families packed up their belongs in old cars and trucks. All that was left was trash and empty buildings. It looked like an apocalyptic scene out of a movie.

This is a neighborhood that had a lot of nice restaurants and bars.

We moved to another school near the end of August. The neighborhood here was quite different. There were no street vendors, other than the occasional cart full of watermelon. The streets were still busy but the stores were more modern and “upscale”. It was interesting to see the contrast in these two neighborhoods.

However, despite how “third world” some of Zhengzhou looked the transportation system was super (really easy if you spoke Chinese). Pat did a great job figuring out the underground system and the bus lines, there were so many but it was all online which made it very easy to use. We would decide on a place to go and Pat would get on his phone to figure the best way for us to travel.

Gas stations were not on every corner, which was a surprise when you think of the million of cars on the road!