My city, my say: Everyday Beijing

Visitors gather near the Dashilan Archway in Beijing, China, 2024. /CGTN Visitors gather near the Dashilan Archway in Beijing, China, 2024. /CGTN Visitors gather near the Dashilan Archway in Beijing, China, 2024. /CGTN Visitors gather near the Dashilan Archway in Beijing, China, 2024. /CGTN Visitors gather near the Dashilan Archway in Beijing, China, 2024. /CGTN A city is more than its skyline.

It is morning exercise along Beijing's Central Axis, a busy subway platform, a summer evening by the Liangma River – and millions of everyday needs behind those moments.

Beijing's "Swift Response to Public Complaints" mechanism uses the 12345 hotline as a main channel to turn residents' concerns into action, with cases routed to responsible authorities, followed up and evaluated by the people who raised them.

Increasingly, the city also uses patterns in those requests to spot common problems before they become individual complaints.

It is one way Beijing is trying to make the rhythms of a megacity work around the people who live in it.