“Qíngwén, nǐ kěyǐ…”

I’m never really sure what to expect in China. Sure, I can guarantee that I won’t understand some things and for that I’ll get some looks or if I do something I consider normal like wear sweatpants outside I’ll get some stare downs. In China, its kinda understood that ‘maybe’ is an acceptable answer when making plans and that things can change an hour before they’re supposed to happen. Last week, I was told (by my students) that I wouldn’t have to teach the following week because they were taking the practical courses at a different school. What I gathered from talking with them and some other teachers is that they go to a camp type thing and learn how to cook, take/develop pictures and fix radios. So like, technical skills, I guess. Since I didn’t have to teach for a whole week, I decided to explore my new country of residence and decided what better place to start exploring than the nation’s capital. With only 2 days to spare, I booked a plane ticket for Beijing and began to plan some adventures. Probably in a tie for one of the most important things to do was hike the Great Wall which is why I did that the first day there, even though I had about 4 hours of sleep that night. But that doesn’t matter because cause it’s the Great Wall!! I’m pretty sure I would of walked right off the plane and onto the Wall if it was possible. That was just my excitement level for this and boy was I not disappointed. It was about a 2 hour ride from the city to the part of the wall we were hiking and along the way we picked up one of the locals from a village near by to be our unofficial tour guide. We hiked along a small winding trail up to the top of the mountain where we began the hike along the Wall. And the view from the top of the mountain was stunning! I’ve heard that Beijing is notorious for air pollution and that you have to wear a mask during the winter because the air is just so gross but I guess I was getting there right before the nastiness did. Even though it was 50 degrees the incredible blue skies above me (coupled with the much needed warmth of the sun) made the hike along the Wall one of my favorite experiences thus far in any foreign country. The best thing about the group I did the hike with was that the part of the wall we were on was not fully restored. Actually, it was pretty much not restored at all which meant that not a lot of people choose to hike this part. So basically, the only people around were those in our group which meant some great shots of the wall without a bazillion people in them. The fact that the part of the wall I hiked was the original stone and craftsmanship of those that build the wall was awesome to experience. It also gave me more respect for those that manned the Wall because it was a legitimately tough hike. Some parts were super steep while other areas had steps the size of my shin. Needless to say, after this eventful day I came home and passed out for over twelve hours. The next place I visited was the Yonghegong Lama Temple which is a large Buddhist compound in the middle of Beijing. The entire compound runs from South to North all leading up to the largest statue in the complex. A three story, intricaly carved and decorated god that I can’t remember the name of. While I was just wandering around the place looking at the buildings and statues, all of which are works of art both in design and architecture, there were people worshiping. I was caught off guard by those worshiping because I hadn’t seen any form of religion since I had been in China. As a country, China is atheist but there are those here that practice religion and they are free to do so as long as they don’t try to convert anybody. After receiving a little bit of self guided enlightenment at the Lama Temple I wandered around the area for a bit because I have a friend who lived there for a year and she suggested some things to try. Surrounding the Lama Temple are Chinese roads, called hutongs, that are lined with traditional Chinese homes. Like when you think of living in traditional China, this is what you imagine and it was so cute and hipster-y. Another spot on my Beijing bucket list was of course the Forbidden City, which is called the Palace Museum in Beijing. The Forbidden City is another example of classic Chinese architecture and the layout was similar to the Lama Temple in that it ran from South to North. Since the Forbidden City is much larger than the Lama Temple, I decided to splurge and get an audio guide so I would know what I was looking at for the next several hours. So yeah, I was being such a tourist but sometimes I think Chinese assume that every foreigner is a tourist even if you live and work in China, like me, so I decided to embrace it while in Beijing. And apparently, emperors were playboys back in the day. The Forbidden City has an entire section dedicated to concubines, with plenty of room for multiple ones. One of the stories that my audio guide (whom I affectionately named Ethan) was about a concubine whose son became emperor because the reigning emperor died without any sons and since she was the favorite one her son got the throne. So, I guess the moral of that story is if you’re going to be a concubine make sure you’re the favorite cause your offspring could one day rule China. After exiting the Forbidden City through the north gate I went to Jangshe park and hiked up to the main pavilion where you can see the skyline of Beijing including the Forbidden City which I had just walked through. Later that night, I met up with a friend of a friend to go check out the expat area of Beijing. We went to Jing A which is a bar/brewery and it is where I had my one and only Oktoberfest beer of the year. Jing A also had a stand up comedy show going on that night in which all the performers were participating in a date auction as well. It’s been so long since I had seen some comedy and it kinda made me want to do some. I feel like I could totally do some stand up about being from Florida. I mean, Florida is such an easy target and basically sets itself up. My last active day in Beijing I went to Tian’anmen Square first. Tian’anmen Square is south and across the street from the Forbidden City and I was just gonna wander through it and check out Mao’s body. But guess what? China happened, well more specifically APEC did. Since APEC was on its tail end during my time there China decided to close Tian’anmen Square (thanks Obama). So, I only got to see it from across the street the entire time I was there, which was a bummer. Remember when I said that the Great Wall was a tie for one of the most important things to do I Beijing? Well, it was tied with getting to see the Olympic sites aka the Water Cube and Birds Nest. I absolutely loved these games for all the epic things that happened. And I’m not just talking about Michael Phelps’ 8 gold medals because without Jason Lezsak it would of only been 7 gold medals. If you don’t know why, Google ‘Beijing Olympics mens 4x100m freestyle relay’ and educate yourself. You’re welcome. My last stop in Beijing was to see the Olympic sites but alas because of APEC, I was only able to admire them from afar. Normally, you can pay to go inside and look around but because of APEC the entire Olympic area was closed off (once again, thanks Obama). I had actually brought my suit to swim in the Water Cube too. On the bright side, I was able to see the Water Cube and Birds Nest all lit up and pretty. The Water Cube had a light show that said APEC CHINA 2014, as if I wasn’t already aware. But yeah, that ended my first trip to Beijing. The coolest thing for me to realize is that China has over 5000 years of history and I was able to experience some of it. Whether it was organically along the undisturbed parts of the Great Wall or with the help of Ethen, my audio friend, through the Forbidden City. This trip was also my first solo trip, anywhere. I wasn’t nervous about being in China by myself because believe it or not, I feel more comfortable walking alone at night here than in Gainesville or places in Europe. I had to detour through a couple of unknown streets while in Beijing and I was unfazed about it. I have yet to decide if this is stupidity, bravery or something else undefined. This also forced me to rely on the kindness of strangers and keep a humorous attitude when confronted with a language barrier issue. Since I didn’t want just selfies in this album, my catch phrase for the week was “Qingwen, ni keyi…” and then I proceeded to mime taking a picture. I was understood for the most part and every time I asked someone to take a picture of me it turned into a mini photo shoot and then they would ask me to be in a picture with them. I was more than happy to oblige. Beijing, you are unfinished to me but don’t worry, I’ll be back for you sometime soon.