What In The Post-Apocalyptic World? Beijing Without People

Have you ever imagined what Beijing would look like if there were a global pandemic, a nuclear fallout or zombie outbreak? Sci-fi disaster films have given the post-apocalyptic treatment to many of the world's great cities, but China's teeming megalopolises have not been immortalized in that way. Until now.

Photo artists Lucie & Simon have produced a series called "Silent World," in which famous cityscapes become bereft of human beings. Most interesting is that Beijing is one of the cities that they chose to shoot, alongside Paris and New York. Of the 30 or so images on their website, ten are of Beijing. We've given you a sample below.

We love the series but we have a small gripe with the Beijing locations that they chose. The images are all just a little too ... believable. There's no disbelief to suspend in order to picture a deserted Tiananmen Square. Similarly, though the idea of Beijing Railway Station abandoned by the masses is quite provocative, their image of a vacant waiting room simply reminds us of other vacant waiting rooms that we've seen. And as for Xizhimen canal? Pah.

In case Lucie & Simon ever feel like making a return trip to Beijing to shoot a few more photos, we have a few friendly suggestions for them. How about the front of Beijing Railway Station, eerily blank and silent without the jostling crowds? Or Xidan's boulevard of malls, stripped of its teenybopper shoppers? Or Dongzhimen at dusk, a hub deprived of both hustle and bustle? If you can think of other Beijing locales that would be perfect for a desolate post-zombie makeover, leave a comment below.

Photos: Lucie & Simon