Beijing

Tsinghua University
The campus is known as one of the most beautiful in China and it is certainly a quiet and green oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of Beijing. We are staying in the international student dorm and I somehow ended up with the only room with a balcony in the whole building! Unfortunately the mosquitos usually force me back into my room though. After working in the studio all day, I like to take a twilight bike ride to explore the huge campus, then I often have more work to do.

Forbidden City
One of the must-see sights in the world and I was still a little sick but couldn't miss the field trip. Like our class trips usually are, it was hurried and we were shuffled through without much time to explore. It was really an amazing place but with my low energy level I couldn't enjoy it as much as I normally would. We then proceeded to the Temple of Heaven and climbed up the hill from which there is a great view of Beijing. After our class trip we proceeded to the much celebrated Pearl Market. It was not how I envisioned it - as a chaotic dark place full of new nice things, knock-offs, used items, rare and antiques, anything and everything. Instead it is a well-organized place with each floor separated by their type of ware - watches and jewelry on one, clothing on the next, etc. Many items are of the quality you could expect for the price. I bought a Snoopy watch, a fake swiss army knife, stylish sunglasses, a flask, and an army medal. Lots of fun but they type of haggle-shopping that wears you out really quick.

Summer Palace
Hands down favorite place in Beijing so far. Likely can be attributed to the fact that I went there with a couple friends rather than on a class trip. We were able to explore all the hidden areas where not many people venture and though some spots were really crowded and unpleasant, the majority of our time there was amazingly serene. It is close to where we stay so we were able to ride bikes there which allowed us to see more of the city than we usually do in taking the subway around.

Architecture + Travel
Another day of exploration took us to see some modern architecture icons. The 'linked hybrids' Steven Holl project, the CCTV building, then wrapped that up with the antique market which was closing up as we wandered through. This was both good and bad as half the vendors were gone, but so were the crowds so it was easy to efficiently pass through viewing the goods. I may have mentioned this when I wrote about the expo in Shanghai, but the crowds in China are something to write home about. Everywhere you go, whether it be a market, a tourist attraction, a subway station - pushing and shoving is unavoidable. There are just too many people in this city. For example: in most cities of the world, a subway transfer involves going up or down some stairs, perhaps going through a hallway to find the next platform. When transferring from line 13 to line 2 on the Beijing subway, it is a maze of hallways, outside then inside, up stairs then down, up an escalator, around the corner, up some stairs, through a passage, etc. and several rows of crowd control barriers help to keep everyone moving at a slow shuffle. At the wrong time of day it can take 30+ minutes just to reach the other platform and you are sardined within a sweaty crowd the entire time. Really not something to look forward to. On the other hand and to redeem it, Beijing has an extensive subway system that is state-of-the art. It was all built pretty recently and is vital to the smooth functioning of the city. It only costs 2y (less than 30 cents) and is not distance-based so the fare is the same wherever you go. Sometimes it is difficult to make your way inside before the doors start to close. If you are traveling with friends, it sometimes happens that some will make it in and some will get the door closed in their face so we always make sure everyone knows the name of the final destination. Some of the newer lines are enclosed such that you are not able to illegally cross the tracks or fall into the pit and potentially be zapped by the third rail.

Fragrance Hill Park
We had been looking forward to this oasis for some time and finally got a chance to go on the afternoon following our final studio review. We had in mind a stroll through a lush green park dotted with temples and then a hill providing a view of the city. Upon paying the fee and entering the park, we immediately followed the path to the peak (the American in us always finds a way to shine through) not realizing it was basically a concrete staircase for an hour with few landings. This always seems to happen so we shouldn't have been surprised and it was a nice climb as the path was well-shaded. We were indeed rewarded with panoramic views at the top except they were mainly of mountains, not the city. This was a pleasant surprise to find that we were an hour out of the city (well, the edge of the city) and could be surrounded by green peaks.

Soon we'll be off to Hong Kong!