August 1st, 2005 | The lowdown by Andrea Bryant

Welcome to Shijiazhuang.

The first thing I notice when I arrive back in my Chinese 'hometown': It's hard to breathe here. The dirt, dry air, and heat hit full force like a train somewhere in between the Gobi Desert and the sun.

Shijiazhuang is a small town in China. Some would even say 'village'. The last word, Zhuang, in Shi Jia Zhuang actually means village. The first word, Shi, is the character for stone. And the Jia in between? The Jia in between is home. This is my home for now, this little stone village of over six million people. My home in between. Home comes complete with occasional Gobi Desert windstorms and the strong rays of the Northern China sun.

Of course, this small village didn't start out with six million plus in its area. It was actually a lot less than that, meaning that this area in the beginning was just a collection of villages scattered all around the place. And then came the railroads. Since this city is so close to Beijing and connects the capitol of China to so many other parts, it became a base of transportation. It grew from there and now has as its main money maker the largest pharmaceutical plant in the country. In addition to this prestigious position, the area also shelters the biggest PLA military academy for China.

Among other interesting facts to note: rumor says that Shijiazhuang is one of the top ten most polluted cities in the world. Experience of my face turning black after just a few hours of cycling around leads me to believe this is true. Since the income made here is mainly from the railway and other industries such as medicines, a lot of chemicals are in the air. A lot of chemicals would be in the air anyway. Most of what I have seen here in the way of heating and cooking use coal. Big mountains of coal, heaps of it, black, and when I arrived back after a trip this afternoon, I felt like the canary in the cage being placed lower and lower on the totem pole for breathable air.

It's in between. Walking down the road from the massive train station, I heard the chaos of blowing horns. I look up and see first KFC, then MacDonald's, followed by another commercial shopping center of no less than six floors complete with fully powered and operating air conditioners. Marketing Strategy no doubt.

In fact, no matter where you go in China, if it's a city or village so to speak, you'll be confronted with the same scene upon arriving at the train station. First, people vendors trying to sell you any item from steamed corn to phone cards to taxi rides at an overpriced rate. Walk a few blocks or steps, and then come the MacDonald's. What is not so ordinary is the feeling I get when I arrive at the other places. With Beijing and Tian Jin, Xi' An and Luoyang, the first thing I thought upon arriving was what I was going to visit. With my home in between, the one in between one ocean and the country in which I was born, the first thing I wanted to do was take off my shoes.

It's dirty but it's homey. I'm settled now in between my pc and the huge coal heap outside my window. It's been renewed and will be enough for the canteen near here to cook meals for a couple months. And here with stained fingers, here is where I'll eat it.