I love Beijing

There's something about this city that never fails to amaze me. It's partially the history, and the fact that I was hanging out at the Temple of Heaven park yesterday, built just a few years ago in 1407. It's also the sheer size and magnitude of the city, with it's five ring roads and it's 8 subway lines. Oh, and don't forget that with a population of 16 million, mass transit takes on a whole new form.

Maybe it is the memories of my months here in 2007 as a student which were not only marked by drinking large quantities of Tsingtao beer, but also with exploring and becoming familiar with the unfamiliar. I think I'm on my way to making plenty of new Beijing and China memories though.

I've been staying with my friend Cathy who is doing the abroad program I did 2.5 years ago and staying in the dorms this weekend, a mere 2 floors exactly above my old room. We ate at the famed Medicine House when I got in- it was still as good as I remember it.

Friday I went to say hello to a lot of my old teachers and program directors. I totally surprised them which was funny. They also find it amusing that most of my group of friends from Beida are back or trying to come back to China.

Yesterday I dragged cathy out to the Temple of Heaven park because I had never been before. It was really big and filled with old people singing, dancing, playing cards, and exercising. The prayer halls were really beautiful and very colorfully restored. Then I took Cathy over to one of my favorite areas, nanluoguxiang, to eat at a little southern Chinese restaurant (two little southern girls like to complain about northern food and it's lack of flavor) which is one of my favorites in Beijing.

We ended up meeting her friends and KTV'ing until midnight too, so it was a pretty China day yesterday. I'm going to take her to Lush for breakfast (I don't know how she hasn't been yet!) and then we are going to the Silk Market, of course.

I have an early morning train back to Qingdao tomorrow, officially marking the end of my China vacation and the start of my American one.

Thanks for the blue skies, Beijing!