i’m too familiar with the street layout of bda*. singapore garden, green town, shanghai salon, it’s a villa, dear villa, dear townhouse. i watch them grow, and get old. it was a life-changing thing i discovered this gem four years ago, years ago when there was the river, the fountain, the tennis court, the kites, the dogs, the roller skaters. it was the most beautiful afternoon with the sunset, the grass, the villas. i keep coming back searching for another moment. i keep bringing more people back and keep asking them are you disappointed. i’m now, and i’m obessed why a place designed to be developing would reach today when the word developing is too far to reach, when, i have to admit the dream to live here and drive one fifth of the fifth ring road everyday to work is actually not so alluring. *bda: beijing economic technological development area