BEIJING

At the beating heart of Communist China, Beijing has long been a city off limits to the prying eyes of foreigners. With the coming Summer Olympics in 2008 all that is changing. China's "Coming Out Party" is being held to demonstrate the country's progress among the world's elite. The downside to such a progressive attitude is that much of the old city ("hutong") is being torn down. While official figures are obviously impossible to obtain, it is estimated that over one million Beijing residents have been forced from their homes in order to accommodate the  "modernizing" process. Nevertheless, Beijing remains the political focal point for what is quickly becoming one of the world's superpowers.