"A mixture of homesickness and a longing to speak with fellow Europeans led to me flee (west Beijing) within two weeks of moving there."

Since 1949, foreign embassies have been located in Jianguomen and Sanlitun in east Beijing, after moving from Nanjing, earlier the nation's capital.

Although Sanlitun, which literally means "a village 3 li (1.5 kilometres) away from the town," was given the chance to develop after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it didn't change very much from the 1950s to the '80s.

Before the '80s, west Beijing was considered the centre of progress. Both the central and municipal governments built most of their offices there, and almost all the major universities had their campuses there.

The Moscow Restaurant, where the best Western food in the town was served, the Beijing Exhibition Centre, where ballets were performed and most of the "Ten Best Architectural Examples" built in the 1950s were all in west Beijing.

Wu Heyuan, a 37-year-old businessman, who came from Jiangsu said: "East Beijing developed fast only in the 1980s. Where there are bar streets and office towers (now), cabbages and potatoes used to be grown.

"The western part was believed to be where people with taste should live," Wu said.

But when foreign investment began to pour into Beijing in the 1980s after the country's opening-up, it was directed to the eastern side, where there was greater space for development.

Upper-scale facilities blossomed in east Beijing in the '80s, marking the beginning of the area's continuing economic boom.

1

2

3

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)