Exploring the Cursed Ground of Longyan International Park AKA the Dragon's Eye
The Fourth Ring Road is backed up. I’m half dozing in the passenger seat of the cab. The taxi driver is driveling on.
“So you’re an Englishman, huh? Gentleman, English pounds, Manchester United. A developed country, yes!”
Why is there no subway stop close to Ikea? I mean really, why do I have to go through all of this for a new winter duvet? The traffic is backed up for miles.
“Hey, shifu! Can we take the back way through Wangjing and go around the back of Ikea?”
The driver looks over at me, his eyes wide with green tea fever. “Wow! You really know this city, gemen'r!”
He checks his GPS, “Yeah! We can do that!” He swings the car left under the overpass, and we head into Wangjing. We hit traffic immediately.
“Wo cao,” the driver mutters under his breath, but something catches my eye. There’s a dome peeking out from over the tops of the fences; you know the ones, those fences with banners proclaiming the Chinese Dream plastered all over them, and all of the rapidly multiplying list of traditional Chinese values: DEMOCRACY. EQUALITY. WEALTH. ABANDONMENT…
“Shifu! What’s that?” The driver casts a quick glance left. “Oh, that? Let’s not talk about that! It’s bad luck!”
He’s flirting with me, there is no way a Beijing cab driver is going to drop a line like that and leave it. I hold on a Beijing second.
“What do you mean bad luck?”
“Well, if you really want to know, I’ve heard that place is cursed. Really bad feng shui, you know.”
“I heard that after a string of worker deaths that occurred there, they changed the name of the place to Longyan International Park, you’d think that naming it after a dragon’s eye would be auspicious enough to break the bad luck, but no, some feng shui experts went in and said the land was cursed. Me personally, I don’t believe in that crap, but it does make you think. "Do you have feng shui in America?”
“I’m from Britain.” I remind him. “Oh yeah! English gentleman. David Beckham!” The driver is still droning on as I check Apple Maps. Sure enough, there it is a huge abandoned building site, the massive dome looking like a dragon’s eye from above. Canals and bridges twist through the concrete remains. The traffic hasn’t budged an inch.
“Hey shifu, can I get out here?” My phone is already aimed at his QR code ready to pay. “Wo cao! Where am I gonna pick up a passenger here?” He wonders to himself as I jump out of the cab. As I dodge through the moving traffic, my afternoon has suddenly become a lot more interesting.
NOTE: Because Longyan International Park is largely an underground location, it is particularly dangerous. Additionally, the security from the adjacent Gas Works is very heavy. For this reason, we do not recommend exploring it yourself.
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Photos: Burbex Brin
