Is Beijing finally over-developed?

Walking around the Ritan Park area last weekend we came across this massive shopping development - the brand new Ritan International Trade Center.

The area north of Ritan Park - known as Yabaolu - is Beijing's Russian district hence the Russian language signs to be seen everywhere. Architecturally, with its domed glass ceiling and aerial walkways, the inside of this mall is reminiscent of the famous GUM shopping centre boarding on Moscow's Red Square - maybe deliberately modelled on it - but there the comparison ends since GUM is heaving with shoppers.

It was eery walking around the empty hallways - coming across the occasional shop and a few bored shopkeepers idly texting on their mobiles. With doom and gloom filing the China press and more and more news of Chinese company failures emerging every day, it's hard to believe that Ritan International Trade Center will be a destination worth heading for any time soon....