Even though the weather was not very good today (smoggy and moist as hell), I decided to get up early to make a trip to the north-west of Beijing. There you can find the Summer Palace, the Beijing University and the Olympic Village of 2008. I chose Summer Palace and the University as targets and keep the Olympic Village for another visit.
I checked google on how to get there. Taking the subway seemed to be rather easy, so I did it. Fortunately it turned out that I had been right, but the ride took me about 45 min – thought it would go much quicker.
However, I comfortably arrived at Summer Palace. At first it seemed to be similar to the Forbidden City, but it turned out to be much more beautiful and cozy! I like the place, indeed! If it had not been so freaking hot (guess you can see it at the sweat drops on my forehead on the pictures) I would have stood hear all day long. Additionally, it was not as packed with people as the F.C. Climbin up the hill however was pretty exhausting! Can’t remember when breathing was so hard for me before. And sweat was continuously dropping from my head.
Leaving the hill with its astonishingly beautiful buildings behind, I approached a great lake which invited me to have rest. While I was relaxing, a group of 14 or 15 year old Chinese girls surrounded me. First they took photos of me under cover, then they became more faithful and one after another stood next to me and a photo was taken.
– I became used to the fact that I ( like every white guy ) am one of the main attractions in the city, but this was a rather new experience –
As they didn’t speak any English I gestured them that I’d like to have one with my camera, too. (see below).
After leaving the Summer Palace my soul screamed for a slice of melon, Chinese people are selling at each point of interest in Beijing.
Tired of walking, I took a bike-taxi to the next subway station (I always wanted to have ride with these :-) ) It was rather expensive though, the ride cost me twice as much as a taxi and 10 times as much as a subway ticket. However, I regarded this as an attraction, not as a way to get from A to B, so I didn’t care about the 20 Yuan I gave the driver.
The University was not far away so it took me only a few minutes to get there by subway. On the main entrance, there was a long line of tourists waiting to be allowed to enter. As I had no desire to stand there for an hour or so, I walked on and found another entrance. I suppose, it was for students only, but as I just walked on, nobody stopped me :-)
The University’s area is very big, haven’t seen half of it, but it is very beautiful. Plenty of greens and a big lake within the boundaries. The amount of tourists reminded me of Trinity College in Dublin, this would really annoy me as a student!
My legs won’t carry me much further, so I decided to head home. Fortunately, I got a seat in the subway, cuz my legs started really hurting by then.
On my way home from the subway station, I recognized that a Starbucks is right next door. Since weeks I long for a Frappuchino, so I got me one. But: where is globalization when you need it? This was everything but a real Starbucks Frappuchino!! Well, it was not bad, but no comparison to what I am used to!
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