For the future of the world, this location in Beijing looks like the best place any child should be brought up for best cohesion of the races that would eventually lead to world peace and better understanding of the various identities of humanity.

It’s the neighbourhood in the city with the most varied racial composition.

Whenever you watch the kids play at the Diplomatic Residence Compound (DRC) playgrounds, in Jianguomenwai, Chaoyang District of Beijing, if you are one that loves variety and the peace of the world, you can’t help but feel envious for not experiencing such variety when growing up. The quarters is the largest for diplomats and other related officials in Beijing with over 700 living homes in 16 high-rise blocks.

The children there that file out to play every evening are Chinese, Africans, Americans, Asians, Oceanians, Europeans etc. Among about 15 kids, they might come from as many as 13 countries spread out in all the continents of the world.

On a typical day, we spotted six boys from five countries – Congo, India, Mozambique, Micronesia and Iran playing football as one team. In another batch of girls, four of them were from Iraq, Angola, Pakistan and China. Most of them are children of diplomats that live in the quarters.

But eventually, kids with such rare privilege are very few. Although these ones might not know today, but they will definitely do when they are grown and come to understand the tension between races and identities in the world.

Most of the problems of the world arise from the problem people have coping with those of other identities. But here, the children grow seeing all races as their friends and would hardly have biases against people of other identities when grown.

Last weekend, we explored that rare neighbourhood after watching the kids play as one people. When they were called to stop playing and take a group photo, one of them, nine-year-old Vickaly, who said he is from a tiny country, according to his very words, called Micronesia, shouted, “yes, we are one happy family.” And another boy, eleven years from Mozambique in Africa, agreed and said, ‘yes, we are very happy people.’

Multi racial kids at the Diplomatic Residence Compound (DRC) playgrounds. (Photo/Ikenna Emewu)

The declaration sounded like they knew the reason for the interest in them. While some of them are some few months old in China, some were born in Beijing. One of them from Congo also in Africa said he was there just for the summer holiday and would be going back to Paris where he lives with his parents next month. Asked if where he lives in Paris there is such rich mixture of races he said no. With some difficulty, he managed to explain in few English words that there are mainly Americans and Africans in his neighbourhood apart from the native French. As he tried to chew out his narration, the vivacious nine-year-old from Micronesian came to his rescue that he doesn’t speak English, just French.

In fact they speak in various languages. While those of them born in Beijing, like the 12 year old Indian boy speaks English and Chinese fluently, those of them whose parents just got posted to the country for service can’t speak and would explain that they are yet to enroll in school next month. The Chinese among them, like seven-year-old girl, Mandy, speak in their language and in English, but as they all speak in different ways, they understand each other and ride their bicycles, play their football, climb the structures and run around together.

To them, the world is a multi-coloured normal place. There is no racism, no divisions and no barriers. All human beings from all races, religions and languages are just human beings the way their world is. What a beautiful world they have in Beijing!