(6/22) Wudaokou (五道口) is a street/district in Beijing where a lot of young people venture to in the evenings. Lots of bars, clubs, and KTV (karaoke). And thousands of bright, flashing lights. It's quite a spectacle. Therefore, we (two American friends and one Chinese roommate) decided that was the place to be on Saturday night. There was a giant group planning on going to KTV place in another part of town. We were part of that group at one point, and then sort of...changed our minds at the last minute. And when I say last minute, I mean they started walking away, we sort of followed and then turned around and went back to the dorms. I know...we're terrible, terrible people, but one thing that I have learned in my time in Beijing is that going places with 10+ people is no fun for anybody.
So, we four went to 五道口 and Qiaoyu (the Chinese roommate) led us two a very European looking bar with a mix of Chinese and waiguo ren. And we relaxed, and it was brilliant. I have a feeling I'm not going to find anything like the Chinese bars I've been to when I get back to the states. Especially on a college campus. Therefore, I've decided I'm going to take advantage of the opportunities presented to me now.
I think one of the most interesting parts about that evening was the pizza we ate. Yes, pizza. It was the first Western food I had eaten in many weeks. And it wasn't bad:
(6/23) Today was a day of very beautiful things. We first went to 北海 (Beihai), a park around a lake in Beijing with very, very old buildings scattered throughout. Really interesting. I was a really nice break from all the city that surrounds us all the time. A few pictures (some of them are even of me...I know....crazy):
The middle picture is a set of steps we got to climb down. Quite steep. Little bit scary. But I believe the theme of my time in China is "You will walk up and down millions of stairs," so I wasn't terribly surprised. This picture also contains two of my good friends: David and Ricky. And the picture below has Rachel, Ricky and some random girl who jumped in at the last moment.
Probably one of the highlights of my trip thus far has been going to the Olympic Park at night. It was absolutely magical. The Olympic Park is one of those places that most people would recognize if shown a picture, but seeing a picture is not the same as seeing it up close. Five years ago, I never would have thought I would be there, with all the people and all the lights. The plaza in fronting is teeming with Chinese culture. But not the old culture, the new, Beijing culture. Bunches of street vendors, people doing their nightly dancing work out, lots of kites in the sky, lots of picture takers, lots of non-Beijingers. It was absolutely wonderful, one of my favorite parts of China so far.
As we walked around and took many, many pictures, we (Rachel and I) were asked to have our picture taken with a few random Chinese. I had been told this would happen, but this was my first experience, I was just a little bit giddy:
SIDE NOTE: The other night coming back on the subway, we had a guy on the escalator out ask if he could take a picture with us. However, I must note, he was first just taking pictures of us without our consent. And with no subtly whatsoever. This happens sometimes, and amuses me a great deal.
Back to Olympic Park: The broadcast tower was really colorful, really tall, and really cool:
A video for your pleasure (the two boys are Ricky and Ricky's roommate Zexi):
I'm planning on going back. It was just that cool. So many adventures, so little time.
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