around Beijing

Despite some rainy days, I’ve been venturing out despite rainy, windy, snowy, or just plain cold weather. Here are some of the sights in and around Beijing that I’ve visited so far.

National Museum: By far the most thorough security I’ve gone through ever for a museum. My bag went through 2 different metal detectors, and everybody was given a thorough pat-down before entering. Otherwise, the museum itself was pretty interesting- not too overwhelming but some nice exhibits. As always some were difficult to appreciate for foreigners as there was no English.

Confucius Temple: A popular sight in Beijing where offerings and sacrifices were made to Confucius. We also stumbled across brief dance performance in the temple! I ended sacrificing my gloves to Confucius though...

Shanhaiguan (山海关): My first trip to the Chinese seaside! This is also where the Great Wall meets the ocean. Even though I had been away from any kind of sea or ocean for about two weeks, the sound of the crashing waves and the smell of rotting seaweed made me ecstatic.

Beijing Zoo: My last couple of zoo visits have been disappointing, and I’m becoming more and more convinced that my frequent childhood trips to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park were the cause of this. Am I really being so picky when it bothered me that you could see the surrounding buildings while you were at Valencia’s Bioparc? It’s hard to get into the “I’m in the great African plains amidst giraffes” mood if right behind you there’s a couple skyscrapers. I didn’t expect anything spectacular at the Beijing Zoo, but I was even more disappointed- by the fact that the domestic tourists had brought food to feed the animals. There were apples, lettuce, carrots, and junk food being fed to almost all the animals. Even when there were 10-feet high walls, that didn’t stop them- they simply tossed the food over the fence. As all this happening around me was a bit depressing, I took very few photos.

Houhai: The renovated area along the lake is now filled with bars, cafes, and bougie restaurants. It was very wet and freezing cold when I was there, but the lake is still gorgeous at night.

Wonderland Amusement Park: One of my favorite excursions so far, I went with an awesome group of CS’ers to this abandoned amusement park in the outskirts of Beijing. The plan was that this would be Asia’s largest amusement park but after some conflicts and financial issues, they abandoned the project in 1998. The weather was beautiful, the park was empty (obviously), and we explored the building interiors as well as the surrounding cornfields. A couple of us even climbed up the spiral staircase of the rocket-like castle. 

Ritan Park: One of the only free parks I've visited, but still very pleasant! It's like a 25 minute run here from my workplace, so I've come once on a jog.

A panorama on a sunny day (half of the pond is actually frozen though!)