Catch me on any day other than an airpocalypse day and I’ll tell you I love Beijing. I love the (non-polluted days) weather, the exciting places to visit and the new foods to try. But, during the week, I can sometimes feel a little disconnected and frustrated with my experience in this huge city. I work in in a very international environment and, for the most part, don’t experience a ‘normal’ daily Chinese life. I usually travel in a taxi instead of public trains or buses (there is no subway station anywhere near our apartment) and live in a very expat, family orientated area. We’ll be moving downtown in a few months and I can’t wait! There are times when I really can’t stand living out here in the suburbs; everything is so spread out and, under Chinese law, we are can’t just go out and buy a car. I sometimes feel like: A) Even though we travel into town most weekends and some evenings, I don’t get the best out of city life because we live in a far out area. B) I don’t get enough of suburban life because there are no decent parks for running and jogging nearby and the roads are too huge to walk along C) I don’t experience enough real, everyday life in China (although in an increasingly cosmopolitan city like Beijing, it’s hard to define what ‘everyday life’ is).
You see I’m a walker. I actually pride myself on my fast walking ability! I grew up walking (or cycling) everywhere in my smallish town and I must have walked hundreds of miles around London in the last few years before moving to Beijing. I also never got a driving licence so that makes me a public transport girl too! Walking and public transport are two things that have been missing in my Beijing life. Two things that I previously considered part of normal life, I was no longer doing.
Last week we had some stunning weather here in Beijing; warm sun and clear skies. Justin was over in South Korea for work so I decided to have a solo adventure around Beijing. My aim was to find somewhere to walk in my local area, to use the subway and to end up in a nice park for more walking (possible future jogging). I recently discovered there is quite a nice back road near our apartment complex that we can cycle down to reach an area with a few shops (instead of taking the busy road way which I’d been doing before). With the aid of google maps, I discovered I could continue on this road and end up kind of near to the subway station. It would take an hour (yes, my nearest subway station is a 1 hour walk away!), but I was more than happy to give it a try.
The sun was shining, I had my ipod on with some great music and it really was a very pleasant walk. One side of the street was lined with trees (yet to bloom, despite the 22C degree heat) and the other with different ‘western style’ housing compounds. It sounds boring (and not very Chinese, but actually these kind of compounds are everywhere now) but it really was not a bad place to walk alongside (small pleasures!). Barely any cars went past on the wide, open road and I only saw a couple of other people walking or cycling down this way. It was a really long walk just to get to the subway, but I felt happy and alive in the sun!
I arrived at the subway station (which I have only been to once before as… it’s an hour walk away), bought my ticket from the machine and headed up to the platform. Up there, on this gorgeous clear day, I was able to see the mountains that surround Beijing! MOUNTAINS! Beijing is so flat and the air not often as clear as it was on Saturday, that I often forget there are mountains so nearby. They are, of course, one of the supposed reasons the pollution hangs over our city.
I was probably the only person on the train riding the subway for fun! But I felt so content listening to my music and watching the other passengers (who were mostly watching me as I was the only non- Chinese person there). I don’t know how many subways (or the tube as we say back home) I’ve travelled on, but it always makes me feel like I belong somewhere. Like I am declaring yes, I know this city, I know what I am doing! Of course, if I have to use it every day to commute I soon start to moan…
A couple of subway line changes (I’ll write a post on taking the subway in Beijing soon) and I was hopping off at the the Olympic Forest Park station. It was the perfect choice. I walked for hours around the olympic park and the forest park. I enjoyed watching all the people flying kites and eating ice cream. I got a lot of exercise, enjoyed the beautiful sun and did plenty of people watching.
Eventually I decided to hop back on the subway and got off at Guloudajie. I decided to get lost in the hutong for a while (Oh how I love the hutong) before dining at my favourite veggie restaurant. I have to admit, I cheated on the return journey back to suburbia. I needed to get home fast and a subway journey followed by a one hour walk wouldn’t cut it. So I hailed a taxi (expertly, see I’m a local now) and was home for a quick change before heading back in another taxi to a bar/restaurant/music venue in the hutong with some friends. And you know what? That taxi ride was fun too. The driver got completely lost but, in doing so, gave us a fabulous tour of Beijing. My friend and I also practised our Mandarin with him- we’re definitely getting better! Getting dropped off at the drum tower, we still weren’t entirely sure where the bar was. I’ve always been against rickshaws (I think they are a rip off and maybe a little unsafe) so I’ve never been in one. Well, to round off my Beijing transport adventure day, we decided to get a rickshaw to the final destination. We negotiated a decent price in Mandarin and whizzed off through the lanes. The journey was only minutes long, but flying through the dark hutong on a warm night was so exciting; I’m going to do it again for sure!
I’ve always loved living in Beijing but, after this day, I definitely have a new appreciation for the city I currently call ‘mine’. I feel at home and less like a visitor looking in now I’ve discovered places to walk (and jog). I know I can use the subway if I want (although I’ll probably save time and cycle there next time) and, basically, I had a lot of fun and got some exercise in the (for once) super fresh air. Justin is, obviously, super envious that I went to the Olympic park without him, so we’ll definitely be recreating this day soon. And I think I can now just about survive the next few months until we get to move downtown!
What kind of things or routines make you feel at home in a new place? And what do you prefer- city, suburbs or countryside living?