May 17th, 2006 | The lowdown by Joanne Bell

Jiangbei - Huizhou's Suburbia.

One of the strangest things about Huizhou is how quickly it is becoming westernised and how ardently it remains Chinese. For example, over the last few years it has gained enough fast food to ensure all the children we teach know the words Macdonald’s and KFC. Permanently parked outside them, however, small men and women push carts of sweet potato, smelly tofu and pineapple on a stick.

The only area which differs from this fascinating duality is Jiangbei, Huizhou’s suburbia. Although Jiangbei is only minutes from the cacophony of the city centre its appearance instantly separates it by miles. It has three things which are extremely are in China - it’s clean, it’s spacious and it’s quiet. Travelling by taxi the first thing you see are long grey roads trimmed with freshly landscaped green hedges. Along one road large shiny buildings reflect mushrooming business. On another empty shops line up like an American strip mall. This road has a good ‘western’ restaurant – a café with swinging chairs and cheese sandwiches.

Moving on, a huge lifestyle complex is underway nearby. It’s unavoidable due to the large colonial building topped with golden turrets which operates as headquarters. At the front of the complex signs for Starbucks and Chanel indicate that these outlets are under construction. Inside the main building a light up model demonstrates the scale of the project, which (despite the billboards) is mainly residential. The staff gave us coffee, a sales pitch and a tour. For China’s new elite two apartments are on offer, fully furnished in either Chinese or European style. Viewing the latter was an experience in itself; it may just be me but I’ve never seen so many golden chairs and fountains.

The best thing about seeing all of this is witnessing the change. Huizhou is still relatively unknown but its proximity to Hong Kong is changing it permanently. Me, I like pineapple on a stick but I’ve always been a Starbucks fan.