Today I went to Hebei University to complete my onboarding procedures. It was my second time arriving in Baoding. From the moment I stepped out of Baoding Railway Station and boarded the bus to Hebei University’s main campus, the overwhelming impression I gathered during those forty minutes was this: the decay of the old city.
There is no denying that Baoding has a long and storied history. The former Viceroy’s Palace of Zhili must have been a place of genuine splendor. Yet since the founding of New China, Baoding’s standing among cities has shifted again and again, and all that remains is a faint pride lingering in the hearts of the elderly.
The provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, has undergone aggressive development in recent years; its people are full of ambition. Even if things were initially dusty and chaotic, there was always an undeniable vitality. Far to the east, Tangshan, after surviving a devastating earthquake, rebuilt itself into something small but exquisite. It sits beside the sea, and while the environment may not be exceptional, the overall impression is one of cleanliness.
Baoding, by contrast, clearly abandoned its old city first and turned its ambitions westward — only to be sideswiped by the national policy designating Xiong’an New Area. One can already see that it will soon pivot yet again, this time toward the east. There is something almost tragically historical about this city’s perpetual recalibration.
Then there are the people. Walking through the streets during working hours, most of the faces I saw belonged to the elderly and young parents dropping off their children. The working-age adults were plainly dressed and seemed to be scraping by on informal work. It left me feeling uneasy. This is a city blessed with abundant educational resources, yet it appears that few university graduates choose to start their careers here. Perhaps, as people say, Baoding is simply too close to Beijing.
Glories of the past are best left unmentioned. I only hope this city can find its footing at last and seize the opportunity to overtake on the curve.
中文原文 / Chinese Original
今天到河北大学办理入职手续，是我第二次抵达保定，从出了保定站，坐上公交车到达河大本部校区，这四十分钟给我的最大感受是：老城区的衰败。
不可否认，保定具有悠久的历史，曾经的直隶总督府，肯定也是辉煌之地，然而新中国成立后，保定的城市地位一变再变，剩下的，只是老人们内心的那点骄傲而已。省会石家庄，前几年大搞建设，人民心气高，虽然也有先乌烟瘴气，但总有些的朝气。远在东边的唐山，经历大地震后，城市小而精致，毗邻海边，环境不算特别好，但总体感觉干净。而保定这个地方，显然是先放弃了老城区，转而向西边发展，但是不幸横着杀出了国策雄安，目测很快又要弃西向东，这让这个城市充满了历史的悲壮感。
再说说人民，我在上班时间段穿越的这段街道，看到的大多数是老年人和送孩子的年轻人，青壮年衣着朴实，似乎都从事着自由职业，这让人感觉很不好。这是一座拥有丰富教育资源的城市，似乎没有多少大学生愿意在这里开始他们的事业。可能正如他们所说的，保定离北京太近了。
好汉不提当年勇，希望这座城市能抓紧起步，弯道超车。
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