Echoes of history and rapid change

Buildings built in Soviet style but with modern facades, and the broad roads clearly remind one of Beijing's streets and its architecture. Mei Jia reports in Berlin.

Walking along Karl Marx Alley in Berlin, a first-time visitor to the city from Beijing may feel a strange sense of familiarity. The buildings, built in Soviet style but with modern facades and the broad roads clearly remind one of Beijing's streets and its architecture.

Before we enter the alley, we are told that it is now the center of a community that accommodates an affluent neighborhood.