I came to live in Beijing in Febru- ary 2006. This is the first city I live abroad Mexico and after five year， I feel it like a second home. I enjoy when I travel to another city in China， but after a few days， I miss Beijing.I am from Mexico City， which is very similar to Beijing. They are really big 20 million people or so. Both are old cities， deeply proud to be the capitals and cultural centers of countries with a long and incredibly rich history. Beijing and Mexico City are perfect combinations of the old and the new， tradition and modernity， convenience and pressure. Both are organized around a magnificent square surrounded by the symbols of tradition， history and political power. Mexico City was the first city from a developing country to host the Olympic Games in the twentieth century， in 1968; Beijing was the first in the twenty-first century， in 2008， exactly 40 years after. According to a study， they even share the dubious honor to be the cities with the worst traffic jams in the world. It is no wonder that they are sister cities having so much in common and that I feel so fine in Beijing.I think there are two kinds of people. The ones who love big cities and the rest. I definitively belong to the first kind. I have to recognize that to live in a city like Beijing means trouble: traffic jams， long commuting times， crowded places anywhere， higher prices， environmental pollution... I will never challenge the cultural life in a wonderful country and， for somebody deeply interested in politics， both national and international， as me， the opportunity to feel the pulse of the decision making process， which in Beijing is equal to history in the making. Some people would rather live in a beautiful small town near the sea. That could be perfect for them， but not for me. I would only go there for vacation.Beijing has changed so much in these five years. When I arrived in a cold morning of February 2006， landmarks such the Bird’s Nest Stadium and the CCTV twisted building were just works in progress. The amazing terminal 3 of the Capital Airport did not exist either. The city had many less bars， discos， shops， restaurants， art galleries， bookstores， cinemas， among other things， than today. It was very difficult to find many daily use articles. Now you can find almost anything if you look at the right place and find outstanding buildings and public works anywhere.Beijing is a place full of life， of energy. It is not only all the buildings in the making， the new malls， museums and public transportation. It is， above all， the people. I really like beijingners， and a beijingner for me is not someone with a Beijing hukou， but anybody trying to make its life here: the“ant-tribe” of thousands of students from the provinces， trying to have their own Beijing dream; the migrant workers constructing a global capital and sleeping in air-defense bunkers; the business people in the CBD， forging world class companies; the crowds of beautiful and joyful people filling the numberless bars and discos almost every night; the brilliant artists from 798 zone， with their revolutionary art， the nice old people practicing taichi in the parks; the children cramming in the schools every morning， the lao beijing ren in their hutongs…I married five months before coming to Beijing and my son was born here in July 2007. I use to joke saying that he is Beijing ren， but so is my whole family. When I was studying Chinese， a teacher told me that sometimes in China people say something like this: if you want to eat， go to Guangzhou， if you want to make business， go to Shanghai， if you want to find a beautiful wife， go to Chengdu… but if you want to live， you have to go to Beijing. I think that is absolutely right.(Author: Second Secretary of Embassy of Mexico in China， Responsible of Commercial Affairs)
