As the world turns its collective attention to Beijing and the Olympic Games, a former Canterbury schoolgirl is in the Chinese capital.

Esther Irwin, 29, teaches in an international primary school in the heart of the Olympic city.

Throughout the Games she is writing a Beijing Blog for www.kentishgazette.co.uk

In the first extract, the former Simon Langton Girls’ School pupil talks about the changing face of the city ahead of the world’s biggest sporting event.

One year into life working in Beijing and the changes have been incredible.

From my 37th floor window alone, I have seen the completion of a new road, a high-rise hotel and a tube station, all within 300 metres of my apartment.

This is a snapshot repeated throughout the city. Aside from the Olympic venues, there are countless subway stations, underground lines, shopping centres, towering office blocks and hotels which have exploded into life from nothing, built by a team of non-stop workers.

Imagine the development of a Whitefriars shopping centre dozens of times over, all within a year.

And not only is it just the buildings: there’s the apparent aim to create iconic images in some of these constructions as well.

Take the new National Theatre shaped like an egg, the Olympic Stadium nicknamed the Bird’s Nest for obvious reasons, the National Swimming Centre made from 4,000 giant bubbles, or the CCTV headquarters shaped like a twisted square.

All these buildings are designed for impact by international architects, a leap into global modernity from a city that would not allow private architectural firms a mere 12 years ago. The awe-inspiring speed of output and sheer scale of these building projects is incredible to witness.

For the new areas to be built, old areas have been flattened to make space. It has been sad to watch the destruction of many of the ancient alleyways of homes, known as hutongs.

The communities built around these single-storey ancient dwellings are an integral part of Beijing’s identity, and they are beautiful.

Such traditional Chinese infrastructure has been literally pulled down overnight to make way for a new Beijing. But it feels there is pride and excitement involved in this remodelling and the unveiling of this new face.