Witness Viewpoint: A Future City in the Making

Yang Wei walked into his office and put on his AR (Augmented Reality) patrol glasses every morning. Through a tiny screen inside this black streamlined design, the information engineer was able to read immediately the name and temperature of anyone he encountered in the company.

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“This device was of great help during the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year,” said Yang while connecting the glasses to his cell phone with a data cable, “we use the glasses to monitor everyone’s health conditions as long as the person’s information is included in the company’s database.”

With such advanced technology in hand, Yang was not working in the bustling CBD of any metropolis. As an engineer of the 5G technology in China Construction Eighth Engineering Division in Xiong’an New Area, Hebei Province, Yang spent most of his time in building sites, examining 5G base stations and making sure the signals are stable and at work.

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Three years ago, when Xiong’an New Area was first established, the region was underdeveloped with a low economic growth. But it quickly evolved into the world’s largest construction plant with a strong investment of the central government, attracting workers from all over the country to devote themselves in the building of a “city of the future”, “a millennium plan”.

Its importance was stressed in the Party leadership’s proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 on November 3rd. President Xi Jinping demanded greater resolution in regional coordinated development and high-quality economic development of Xiong’an New Area.

“It is hard to make a connection between the current landscape of Xiong’an where everything just got started and is under construction, with the world’s most avant-garde 5G technology. But the latest technology has already been applied to the very earliest development stage of Xiong’an,” commented Wang Zhicheng, a senior manager and colleague of Yang.

The company scheduled a roof-sealing ceremony of one of its buildings on November 9th, to give a sense of ritual to a monotonous and tiring life in the construction site.

Shi Zhaoyang, the project manager of steel construction, was in charge of hosting the ceremony. Native of Hebei, Shi chose to return to his home province after graduating as a Master student from Chongqing University five years ago.

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“Working in the construction industry is dangerous and tiring. You spend most of the year working and living in the construction site, and can only go home on holidays.”

Shi followed a fixed routine six days a week with one day off. He started his day at 8 in the morning and got off work at 6 in the afternoon if he didn’t have an extra shift. His main duty was to make sure that every project was properly finished by time with a good quality.

The 32-year-old engineer thought of himself as one of the luckiest man in the world this year. “My daughter was born on May 12th, and I make video calls every night with her,” said Shi, who subconsciously crossed his fingers and felt the gold wedding ring on his left ring finger.

Living in Xiong’an, just 2 hours’ drive from his home Tangshan, Shi couldn’t go back home often, as he was in charge of over 130 workers and needed to make sure of their safety and work. Pity it was that he wasn’t there all the time for his family and couldn’t watch his beloved daughter grow, Shi was attentive and strict with his work, and was glad to see new buildings rising and thriving on the horizon of Xiong’an, a future city in the making.

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Unlike Shi, the 25-year-old engineer Yang Wenjun suffered from a long time separation with his girlfriend who was in his hometown Zhejiang Province. Coming to Xiong’an only three months ago, Shi felt that “the climate in Northern China doesn’t really suit me.”

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Newly graduated this year, Shi was still trying to adapt to a new life outside of campus and to a new working and living environment. Reserved and introvert might he be, he had a smile on his face which was hard to conceal when speaking of her girlfriend.

“Actually I just came back from holiday days ago,” said Shi, who spoke with a slight southern accent, “I can go home once every three months, and the company would cover my travel expenses.”