‘Misunderstandings don’t always arise from malicious intent’

Just before 8 p.m., the hutongs of central Beijing are quiet. We are between the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square during the most important national holiday: The first week of October marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Beijing's streets are adorned with red lanterns and filled with people from every corner of the country. Outside the gray houses in the hutongs - the narrow alleys of old Beijing with their small, preserved homes - the red national flag with its five yellow stars flutters. The city's avenues are no longer noisy, as most of the cars, buses and scooters are electric, identified by their green license plates. The hutongs, however, are even quieter.

Five Chinese men are playing mahjong, with a Bentley parked in front of them.

In both Beijing and Shanghai, it's easy to spot contrasts between the very old...