Sunday I went to District 798 with two of my classmates Song Ye Eun and Ma Hye Won. District 798 is an area that used to be full of operating factories but has no been converted to art galleries and shops. The place is massive and really unique! There's little cafes and art pieces all along the roads. It definitely reminded me of a hipster sort of hangout.
When we first left the girls told me that they wanted to find rings (they pronounced it "ling" and I loved it) at District 798 for all of us to wear as a sign of our friendship. They're so adorable and I can't get over it! Unfortunately we didn't find any we liked, but we're still on the look out!
I took a lot of pictures of graffiti because I was so impressed by it! We went in a few galleries, but none of us were really interested and enjoyed the street art and shops instead.
There's a park nearby my school and I went there with two of my other classmates one night to just relax and enjoy the night scene. We saw some ladies dancing, men playing instruments I don't know the name of, and then we passed these people singing. Sorry for the lack of visibility, but the music is really all the matters!
One day when we were walking out of the school a guy in his mid twenties came up to us and tried speaking to us in broken English. He had a camera and a piece of paper with some writing on it. After a bit we figured out that he wants to propose to his girlfriend (who possibly went to CNU, unclear if that's what he was saying) and is taking pictures of people with the paper (which is asking her to marry him). Of course we agreed to help him! So... I guess I'm somehow involved with a marriage proposal. Who would have thought!
Wednesday we went to Xiang Shan. Xiang Shan is a mountain area that can be seen on the outside of Beijing. It's really pretty in autumn when the leaves change. I guess Mao had a sort of retreat area on the mountain and there were other historical sites there as well. Chad, Micah, and I decided to take the long way and hike the whole way to the top and back down. Everyone else took the chair lift up. Hiking up was exhausting and I was so sore the days after, but it was totally worth it! We had a great time seeing everything and laughing at our (mainly mine) lack of endurance.
That's our destination.... so close, yet so far.
This is where Mao sat. You weren't allowed to go in.
His living quarters.
Oh look, it's me! I had Chad take this picture because the last time I tried to get a picture in one of these circle doors I fell. Ironically I was in the beginning stages of falling backwards again as this was taken, but it turned out good so I was happy with it!
Such a trustworthy sign...
See that tower sticking up? That tower is really close to our school. We usually use it to determine how bad the smog is that day - some days it's clear, some days it doesn't even seem to exist.
People hang their wishes in the trees.
Finally at the top! It was very crowded.
Heading back down! Going down was almost harder because the stairs were so steep that you had to be extra careful to not fall.
Chinese Commons Lawn, maybe?
Friday we went to the Botanical Gardens. It reminded me of Frederick Meijer Gardens in a way. We walked around and enjoyed the exotic plants and not so exotic plants. There was an area that had a Jurassic Park theme, but we didn't go in because judging by the sounds coming from it, it was not worth paying to go in. We sat on some rocks at one point and became an attraction of our own. Parents would walk by and strategically place their kids so we were the background of their picture. It was a fun and relaxing afternoon.
Kids could go in these blow up tube things and run on the water.... jealous!
There was a rose garden...complete with lots of bees.
These girls were pretending the tree was a horse and I couldn't resist it was too adorable.
Look at those flat bowl/pancake like lily pads!
Chad met a friend! We ran into this kid two times at the garden and he had no fear what so ever to talk with us. He clearly knows English and wanted to know as much as he could about Chad. If we hadn't told him we needed to go I think he would have stayed there and talked for hours! I was impressed by English and friendly attitude.
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