Between the early 1950s and the accelerated demolition and construction of Beijing's "old city" in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, the residents of Dashalar-one of the capital city's poorest neighborhoods and only a stone's throw from Tian'anmen Square-lived in dilapidated conditions without sanitation. Few had stable employment. Today, most of Dashalar's original inhabitants have been relocated, displaced by gentrification. In Beijing from...