Tirana, the capital of Albania, is going through profound changes. Old and dilapidated collective dormitories stand side by side with tastefully renovated boutiques. Some of the major intersections have been torn open as part of road construction plan, sending dust to fly in the air. The average salary of a city dweller is said to be between €250 to € 550, the streets are full of second-hand Mercedes cars. The main boulevard, the King Zog 1 and Martyrs of the Nations, with the Skanderbeg Square in the middle, is the heart of this metropolis of over 1 million people in a country of 3.5 million. A visitor from China can easily gets stared at in a crowd and the presence of a foreigner still causes visible unease among the Tirana residents, especially when being photographed . Once the initial language barrier overcome, the Greek and Italian being the most widely spoken foreign tongues, however, I've been greeted with warmth and genuine feeling of friendship. While not exactly a top tourist destination, a short stay is still quite a novel experience for anyone looking for vestiges of a bygone era.