Hello, again! This post will cover Thursday through my second Sunday of Fall Break. After this, I’m heading to Shanghai, so more travel stories to come. Hope you enjoy!
Thursday
If you recall, Wednesday was my day of 30,000 steps, so I decided to sleep in a bit on Thursday before spending my morning in my friend Katie’s favorite coffee shop working on some homework and sipping on hot chocolate. I loved the design in here – it felt so cozy!
After leaving the coffee shop, I took the bus to Beihai Park, which was one of my last few spots in my Middlebury in Beijing passport and a new favorite location in Beijing. The park is surrounded by water and home to some of the earliest buildings from the imperial garden, which can be found along various hidden rock paths throughout the park. I’ve included some pictures below, but they don’t capture how serene this park felt. Even though I was surrounded by many other visitors, everyone navigated the space quietly and respectfully; I truly felt as though I had stepped into a place of rest and contemplation. I sat at the waterfront for a while and pondered my time in Beijing so far, uninterrupted except for by a dragon-shaped boat full of waving tourists. Too cute.
The East exit of Beihai park leads right into a traditional village called a “hutong” (literally translates to “lane” or “alley”), with narrow streets packed with shops and bargain-hunters. I found myself oddly at peace here, too, even though the environment was vastly different – vendors yelling over each other, rickshaws racing through the streets, cars honking their horns to clear paths along streets just wide enough for a vehicle. Here I encountered a man who was tickled pink that I spoke Chinese, but only until I told him I wasn’t interested in riding on his precarious-looking cart. I almost gave in when I saw how sad he looked, but then I figured that must part of his ploy. Sorry to disappoint, my friend!
I grabbed a sandwich for lunch before heading to my final location of the day around 3 pm. My last unconfirmed Middlebury Passport spot was a waterwheel in Zhongshan Park (according to Katie’s roommate) adjacent to Tiananmen Square, so I took the subway to the nearest station. The funny thing about that area of Beijing is that even if you’re not going to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, or a government/historical landmark, you still have to submit to passport checks every two seconds. I had my passport scanned as I got off the subway, when I exited the station aboveground, and twice more before reaching Zhongshan. I get so nervous carrying my passport around everywhere, and that anxiety is only compounded by the knowledge that I would be permanently stuck in my room if I did lose it (because it’s checked so frequently here).
One I did make it into the park, I searched high and low for that water wheel. It is with much disappointment that I confirm, yes, Katie’s roommate misled me, and no, I have no way to finish my passport (my singular goal for the week). I even went around the park and then the subway station afterward asking Beijing residents if they recognized the waterwheel in the picture, and absolutely no one could identify it. Running the picture through Google recognition, I only found one other picture of the same wheel—which is distinctive because it’s non-functioning and actually misaligned at the top—but the online image was available for purchase with only the caption “wooden water wheel in Beijing park.” Which Beijing park, @Xiaoyong68867309?!? I even considered signing up for the website just to message the photographer and ask where the wheel is – that’s how desperate I am. That may sound crazy, but let me tell you something about me: I am nothing if not determined. I live for a challenge, and by golly, I am going to finish my passport.
In brighter news, look how beautiful the park was:
At this point, I was feeling like an old man. My body was hurting from walking so much (I actually wore holes in the heels of my socks this week with all of my adventuring), and I decided to take the subway back to campus. I got back at about 7 pm and grabbed dinner to-go, which was an Indian-inspired onion dish that I could tell was going to be delicious before I even started eating. Then, after a couple hours of eating and recovering, I settled in to work on this very blog – which I was desperately behind on. I think downloading, converting, uploading, arranging, and captioning the photographs takes the most time, but is also the most interesting to friends back home.
Friday
One of my favorite days of the semester so far was the Friday of fall break, which I packed with fun activities. I spent the morning and early afternoon at the Beijing zoo with Katie and my roommate, and because it was a work/school day, the zoo was practically empty. We walked leisurely for hours, visiting so many enclosures for animals I had never heard of (and some I had heard of, but never seen—i.e., kangaroos and hippopotamuses). The highlight was, of course, the pandas, which were pretty active early in the morning. There was one panda in an indoor enclosure that was sleeping right next to the window, as if it had been posed. Visitors were throwing elbows to get close enough to snap photos!
Other photos from the Beijing Zoo
After the zoo, I decided to hit another Middlebury Passport spot, the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Museum. I won’t lie to you, I wouldn’t recommend this museum. I love art museums—truthfully, museums of any kind—but this one was not very engaging. I enjoyed a few exhibits that featured portraits of everyday Chinese people, and one of traditional calligraphy on long strips of paper, but the rest was not very engaging. I believe the museum is under renovations, because only one of the four stories was available to the public. I’m also deducting a point from the CAFA because I had no idea where to go upon entering and had to ask two different desk attendants (after the first desk attendant’s instructions just led me to another desk). Better luck next time!
I biked and took the subway back home, then almost immediately headed back out with Katie and my roommate. I loved the flea market I visited earlier in the week and when I mentioned it while at the zoo, they both expressed interest in visiting together. It was perfect timing because on Fridays, the flea market stalls are open many hours after normal closing time for the “night market” experience. The three of us spent hours perusing and buying souvenirs (and eating matcha ice cream) before hopping on a late-night subway to travel back home.
Saturday
Saturday was my most chill day of fall break, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. The only thing on my docket was a meeting with the Assistant Program Director and my friend Katie about a festival we would be participating in on Sunday. The school hosting our studying abroad program was hosting an international cultural exhibition, and as the only group of Americans, it was our job to put together a booth and activities that represent the United States. We had already planned our activities before this, but by Saturday the supplies had come in, so we spent the afternoon preparing for Sunday’s festival.
We decided to make our booth Halloween themed, since we’re so close to the holiday. We chose face painting, mask decorating, and “pin the hat on the witch” as our American activities, so in preparation we drew and cut out many hats, painted a witch on posterboard, and made bags of candy for simple trick-or-treating. My main job on Sunday was face painting, so I spent the rest of my evening practicing simple face painting designs all over my body. It had been so long since I’d painted faces, and I started getting nervous about the kids hating my designs, so I practiced way into the night!
Sunday
My worrying was all for not, because the festival went off without a hitch. During the opening ceremony of the event, I presented the American flag and represented my country alongside students carrying their national flags. When I volunteered for that job, I thought my professor was saying someone needed to go grab an American flag from the event coordinators, but as I learned, I actually got to go on stage and represent the United States.
Once the festival officially started and our booth opened, the day flew by in a blur. I painted more faces than I could count, including my own. My most popular designs were rainbows with hearts and clouds, spider webs, and country flags. All of the Vietnamese booth volunteers stopped by at some point, so I got very good at painting yellow stars on red backgrounds. Everyone was generous with their feedback; even if some of my designs were questionable, everyone at least pretended to be pleased.
At one point, our booth was flooded with kids who wanted to paint masks, so I took a break from face painting to help them with masks and manage our “pin the hat on the witch” game. We even had a few adults try that one, which made everyone laugh. In general, festival-goers appreciated our Halloween theme. Speaking of, in the pictures you will notice that I have white fabric covering my hair. I have not become a Mennonite – those are just kleenexes with eyes drawn on them to look like ghosts so I could be on theme.
Two notable moments from the festival happened at lunch and then right before the event concluded. During our lunch break, Katie and I were approached by two women looking for English tutors for their sons. While we were explaining that it would be illegal for us to work on student visas, their sons ran up to yell that they hate English and don’t want lessons. It was a hilarious moment, especially because their parents were so flustered and wanted to make sure we weren’t offended. The second notable moment was at the very end of the festival, after the sun had disappeared and the wind picked up. I was knee-deep in face paint and my fingers were ice cold, but I didn’t want to stop, so I just warned everyone that my hands would be cold before touching their faces. Well, one girl was so thoughtful that after I finished her face paint, she reappeared a few minutes later with adhesive hand warmers for me. I was so touched by the gesture! It was a wonderful way to round out the festival before breaking down the booth, hauling everything back to the program office, and packing my suitcase for Shanghai.
Fall Break Recap: Part Two
Highlight: Maybe the posing panda at the zoo? My hot chocolate at the coffee shop? Painting faces until my fingers froze? This week had too many highlights to choose from! What a gift.
Lowlight: The online anonymity of @Xiaoyong68867309.
That’s all for now! See you next week for a trip to Shanghai. 🙂
很想你们，
婉婷
