Beijing On My Own

With one free day before my group tour of China began, I was able to explore a bit of Beijing on my own and even meet with an old friend.

It should come as no surprise that Beijing is big, crowded, and noisy. Air quality has become an issue that is forcing the Chinese government to take action and hotels are offering this amenity (for a fee).

But there are green spaces to be found.

This area runs along a huge street that was once the wall surrounding the city. I found a lot more park space than I anticipated.

Remember an earlier post when I said that cities don’t come with soundtracks? Allow me to revise and extend those remarks. The noise of a honking scooter is everywhere in China. You can’t escape it in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, or any other city. It’s like the crying baby on the plane. At first you don’t really notice it, then it’s worse than nails on a chalkboard, followed by acceptance and even humor.

I’ll keep this post short, if only to show a few pics from my tour of the National Art Museum of China. The building is about to be expanded but right now it’s pretty small, considering the history and size of the country. Some of the pottery was breathtaking and I was taken in by the calligraphy. While I marvel at the deterioration of my own cursive handwriting (which is limited to my signature and an occasional check), the beauty of the brushstrokes is something to be admired.

This one Chinese character caught my eye. It was part of a wall of painted symbols, each about two-foot square.

Apparently, it means “Peace.”

It was great to meet up with a Florida friend who now spends a good amount of his time in China. We were able to grab dinner on the night before his flight back to the states, so the timing couldn’t have been better. He also took me to a street market that you would never know existed just behind the walls of pricey malls and Western stores.

Luckily, my group tour would take me back here just a few nights later and I got to take even more photos.

The clash between the old and the new is amazing here.

Other things I ran across in Beijing….

Some dancing ladies taking part in some kind of talent show.

And a great hostel that offered up a cold beer when I needed it most. (The waitress marveled at just how many of those cold beers I enjoyed).

I even found someone who could help me with my blog….but she was a little stiff. And talk about your third wheel!