In 1947, a small 14-year-old boy named Shi Rui Xiang arrived in Beijing to try to make it in the city. He came with the slow moving cargo train, sitting among bundles and packages. 
Originally, however, most early hopefuls travelling to Beijing did not take the train, but crossed the Marco Polo bridge on their way to the capital on foot. It is not an exaggeration to say that this crossing is the very reason that Beijing exists in its present location. The explanation for this is found in geography. The bridge was situated at the narrowest point of the Yongding river, providing both defence and access to trade through the encircling mountains and the Huabei plain beyond. For thousands of years during the dynasties this was where streetstyle entrepreneurs would make their way into Beijing.
The Marco Polo bridge is today under protection and closed to traffic, but right up till the early 1980s it was still in common use, and even though the camel caravans are long gone, we can still find deep marks in the stonework made from thousands of footsteps.