An “I Love Beijing!” day (also commonly known as an “I {Heart }Beijing” day and written as “I ❤ Beijing”) is not a phrase you’ll find in a dictionary (Collins or Urban), but it’s an increasingly common saying amongst expats in Beijing; both out loud and written on social media. An “I Love Beijing” day (I Love Beijing weekends are also common) is a day/weekend when you, quite simply, love Beijing! But, what makes it different to just having a nice day in your city is that, commonly, it has been preceded by an intense stretch of polluted days.
Waking up to a blue sky and fresh air after 4 + days of pollution and grey, leads to a natural high that only Beijingers understand. Unfortunately (and especially lately) those blue skies don’t always last very long. Thus, when you get a perfect blue, sunny weekend day there is an intense feeling of happiness, a drive to rush around enjoying oneself and cramming in as many fun activities as possible before the next set of smoggy days befalls us. So, after a great day, we often say to each other ‘That was an I love Beijing day!’. It can be a day doing whatever you want to do, but it’s always a day when you are happy, enjoying the sun and clean air and Beijing feels like the most perfect place!
This weekend was definitely an “I love Beijing” one. After 5 days of smog, the air began to improve enough on Friday night to get out and about in Beijing. It was followed by two beautiful, sunny days on Saturday and Sunday. Here’s what made up my “I love Beijing!” weekend:
The Sky Was Blue
Essential to any “I love Beijing!” weekend, the sky was blue, the weather warm and the air pollution almost non-existent.
Spring Arrived And So Did The Blossom
You can’t have a perfect Spring weekend in East Asia without enjoying the cherry blossom. This weekend the blossom was in full bloom. We walked amongst hundreds of trees in Yuyuantang Park and then, unexpectedly, saw hundreds more all over the mountains when we hiked the wild parts of the Great Wall. Breathtakingly beautiful.
We Ate Seriously Great Food
We found the most amazing dumplings in Beijing (and well and truly put our Mandarin skills to the test). Every weekend I seem to find new contenders for my favourite food in Beijing (see here and here). It’s getting hard to decide and these dumplings were so delicious we ate 30 of them! We also went to our favourite veggie (actually vegan) restaurant, ate some amazing pizza, found a new frozen yoghurt place and basically, ate a lot of great stuff!
We Hiked The Wild Great Wall
For the second time since arriving in Beijing, we hiked on a wild part of the Great Wall. I love outdoor exercise and you can’t beat scrambling up bits of ancient wall, the sun shining down on you and the hills full of cherry blossoms!
We Found New Places
My love for the Hutong is no secret. This weekend our latest “off piste” adventure (we like to just wander and see what we find) led us to discover new bars (one with the nicest owner I’ve ever met in Beijing), quiet outdoor courtyards for drinking beer in the moonlight, a tiny and amazing barista cafe (the lone barista made every cup of coffee with serious love and attention) and plenty of places to eat. Any day getting intentionally lost in the hutong is a good day. Also- this photo was propped up on a wall. I wonder who they are?
So, this was my “I love Beijing!” weekend. What makes a perfect “I love (insert your city/town/country here)” day for you?