by Xinhua writer Tian Ye

BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- One evening, my daughter asked me to take her cycling in the street. I hesitated -- I had been away from China and Beijing for years and was not sure if evening rides were safe.

"Don't worry," she said. "Have you noticed how many cyclists there are in Beijing?"

We took a ride through downtown, and I began to notice the changes the city had undergone in the four years since I left in late 2021.

Along the major roads, fleets of cyclists glided past on professional bikes, joined by riders on brightly colored shared bicycles and delivery men. Infrastructure for cycling -- clearly marked lanes and parking zones -- has become far more visible than before.

As we rode on, other meaningful changes stood out: there were more flower-lined green belts dividing traffic, redesigned intersections easing congestion caused by U-turning vehicles, and pocket parks with basketball courts and ping-pong tables woven into both residential and commercial areas.

These subtle, people-centered improvements are quietly reshaping everyday life, demonstrating that China's rapid development is not only about towering skyscrapers, high-speed rail or AI technology -- but also about gradual, practical improvements in how people live.

Chinese leaders often emphasize that development should be people-centered and its benefits widely shared. The changes in Beijing offer a concrete illustration of how that development philosophy is being applied in practice.

According to Beijing's government work report released in January this year, the city added 1,000 km of greenways over the past year, renovated 1,225 residential compounds, and added more than 50,000 new parking spaces for electric bikes.

In terms of air pollution control, official statistics show that the city's annual average PM2.5 concentration fell to 27 micrograms per cubic meter in 2025, down 11.5 percent year on year. This marks the first time it has dropped below 30 micrograms per cubic meter, reaching the lowest level in its monitoring history. The level was nearly 70 percent lower than that of 2013, when smog was a major public concern.

"I'm glad the city's air quality has improved over the years, and it's wonderful to have an 'oxygen bar' right on my doorstep," said a man identified only by his surname, Li, while strolling through a park in Caishikou -- a site once slated for high-rise office development before a 2017 policy transformed it into green space.

There were other targeted measures to improve people's living standards, something I have personally benefited from since my return. In September 2023, the city launched dedicated school bus routes that offer zero-transfer journeys for school children. Under the program, buses travel to residential compounds to pick up students, relieving parents who may not have the time to escort their children to school. Zhao Zhen, an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, noted that more than 300 routes are now in operation, serving approximately 26,000 passenger trips each day.

Such transformations extend beyond Beijing. About 180 km east of the capital, Tangshan, historically an industrial city known for its coal mines and steel industry, is reshaping its identity through ecological restoration. Former mining and subsidence areas such as the South Lake have been converted into parks, wetlands, and cultural spaces.

In Shanghai, the "15-minute community life circle" initiative aims to ensure residents can access daily essentials -- shops, clinics, parks, eldercare, and schools -- within a short walk, a model increasingly discussed in global urban planning circles. In southwest China's Chongqing, hillside communities have been made more accessible through monorails, and public escalators were integrated with metro systems to facilitate travel.

In rural areas, China's development model is also reshaping livelihoods. In Yucun, a village in Zhejiang Province, once a limestone-mining place, forests and rivers have been restored and eco-tourism now provides stable income for residents.

In an interview with China News Service on April 21, Nadia Rasheed, representative of the United Nations Population Fund to China, hailed China's historic achievements in economic growth, poverty reduction, health, education and gender equality, and praised the country for placing people at the center of its development agenda.

Charles Onunaiju, director of the Center for China Studies in Nigeria, said that China has remained focused on improving people's well-being by responding promptly to the public's practical needs, continually updating its development philosophy, and ensuring that its governance system evolves with the times.

This, he noted, helps ensure that the benefits of economic growth are shared by the broadest possible segment of the population.

This unrelenting spirit of reform is one of the key reasons behind the success of Chinese modernization, he said.

As we finally begin our journey home, I looked around at the city I had once known and the one I now rediscovered.

Beyond the policies and the statistics, what stood out most was the quiet transformation of daily life -- the ease of movement, cleaner air, accessible green spaces, and the sense that people's well-being was a real priority.

It occurred to me that development is not just about progress on paper, but about the contentment and the simple joys that fill ordinary days. In Beijing, and increasingly across China, modernization is measured not only by growth, but by how it shapes lives -- making them healthier, safer, and richer in everyday experience. And on that evening ride, I felt it firsthand. ■