Here are the promised photos and assurance that we are still alive after a few days of temperamental internet and a change of location.
While I only wrote a few days ago, it feels like weeks- time seems to be in flux here, racing by while we were studying and slowing right down for our last few days in the capital Beijing. After moving into an awesome hostel in the nightlife-rich district of Sanlitun, we played the ultimate tourists for our last few days- cameras in hand, backpacks loaded with guide books and maps, we set off to conquer the bucket list sights of Beijing. On Saturday we had a very spiritual day, lighting incense and being somewhat altered by the peace and serenity of the Lama Temple, the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet. Visually striking, with brightly colored rooftops and intricate alters, the warren of temples and shrines are inspiring to behold. We joined throngs of worshippers queuing outside at 9am, all clutching incense to make the requisite offerings pre-Spring Festival. We also meandered through the Confucius Temple and Imperial College, which illustrated a past driven by the importance of education.
We stumbled upon an agreed top food experience for lunch on Saturday- easily one of the coldest days so far, I could no longer feel my feet, toes or face when we happened upon a vegetarian restaurant that offered a buffet lunch. Well, we certainly made up for the Asians having a ‘buffet’ of one plate- polishing off at least 8 plates between us, plus bowls of soup, sushi hand rolls, unlimited tea and coffee- I ate until I couldn’t bend over!
To continue our spiritual journey we went to the Temple of Heaven, strolling through avenue after avenue of winter-bare trees strung with red lanterns. We had a thrilling motorcycle ride that afternoon- after viscous haggling which resulted in a steady torrent of abuse our whole trip, we clambered into, literally, into a motorcycle- see picture below. A floor of cardboard, walls of thin tin and a driver who thought he was driving a F1 car made for a hair-raising way of getting to the subway.
We finally made it to Tiananmen on Sunday, taking our time to wander on the biggest public square in the world, while also reflecting on its dark history. Only I was allowed into see Mao, as Jords didn’t have her passport- something which, as well as very strict security checks and not being allowed to take anything in, was necessary to view the man himself. The weather got even colder that afternoon, so we headed to the warm indoors for a 30 kuai ($5) massage- hands down the best massage I have ever had in my life. We continued the indoor activities with a Chinese movie- luckily it had English subtitles, though it was good practice to try and follow the Chinese. The language barrier didn’t take away from the emotion of the movie, with one of us (Jords) having quite a bawl towards the end.
Today was an epic trek of subway, train, bus, plane, walking up a massive hill with a 25kg pack for me and a 25kg out-of-control suitcase for Jords. However, we are finally settled in Qingdao, a welcome change of pace from the hustle bustle culture overload of Beijing. While Qingdao still has 2.5 million people, the vibe here is relaxed and beachy- not dissimilar to an Aussie holiday spot. Our hostel is much quieter, and we were upgraded for free to a private room, which is certainly going to aid in a week of relaxation and recovery, and hopefully some hiking and country town exploration.
I may have gone a bit overboard on the photos, but it was just so hard to choose from the last few jam-packed days.
As we huddle in our jumpers, three pairs of socks, and earmuffs I am thinking of you all in warmer places.
Will probably write towards the end of this week,
Much love,
Lu Fei
While I only wrote a few days ago, it feels like weeks- time seems to be in flux here, racing by while we were studying and slowing right down for our last few days in the capital Beijing. After moving into an awesome hostel in the nightlife-rich district of Sanlitun, we played the ultimate tourists for our last few days- cameras in hand, backpacks loaded with guide books and maps, we set off to conquer the bucket list sights of Beijing. On Saturday we had a very spiritual day, lighting incense and being somewhat altered by the peace and serenity of the Lama Temple, the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet. Visually striking, with brightly colored rooftops and intricate alters, the warren of temples and shrines are inspiring to behold. We joined throngs of worshippers queuing outside at 9am, all clutching incense to make the requisite offerings pre-Spring Festival. We also meandered through the Confucius Temple and Imperial College, which illustrated a past driven by the importance of education.
We stumbled upon an agreed top food experience for lunch on Saturday- easily one of the coldest days so far, I could no longer feel my feet, toes or face when we happened upon a vegetarian restaurant that offered a buffet lunch. Well, we certainly made up for the Asians having a ‘buffet’ of one plate- polishing off at least 8 plates between us, plus bowls of soup, sushi hand rolls, unlimited tea and coffee- I ate until I couldn’t bend over!
To continue our spiritual journey we went to the Temple of Heaven, strolling through avenue after avenue of winter-bare trees strung with red lanterns. We had a thrilling motorcycle ride that afternoon- after viscous haggling which resulted in a steady torrent of abuse our whole trip, we clambered into, literally, into a motorcycle- see picture below. A floor of cardboard, walls of thin tin and a driver who thought he was driving a F1 car made for a hair-raising way of getting to the subway.
We finally made it to Tiananmen on Sunday, taking our time to wander on the biggest public square in the world, while also reflecting on its dark history. Only I was allowed into see Mao, as Jords didn’t have her passport- something which, as well as very strict security checks and not being allowed to take anything in, was necessary to view the man himself. The weather got even colder that afternoon, so we headed to the warm indoors for a 30 kuai ($5) massage- hands down the best massage I have ever had in my life. We continued the indoor activities with a Chinese movie- luckily it had English subtitles, though it was good practice to try and follow the Chinese. The language barrier didn’t take away from the emotion of the movie, with one of us (Jords) having quite a bawl towards the end.
Today was an epic trek of subway, train, bus, plane, walking up a massive hill with a 25kg pack for me and a 25kg out-of-control suitcase for Jords. However, we are finally settled in Qingdao, a welcome change of pace from the hustle bustle culture overload of Beijing. While Qingdao still has 2.5 million people, the vibe here is relaxed and beachy- not dissimilar to an Aussie holiday spot. Our hostel is much quieter, and we were upgraded for free to a private room, which is certainly going to aid in a week of relaxation and recovery, and hopefully some hiking and country town exploration.
I may have gone a bit overboard on the photos, but it was just so hard to choose from the last few jam-packed days.
As we huddle in our jumpers, three pairs of socks, and earmuffs I am thinking of you all in warmer places.
Will probably write towards the end of this week,
Much love,
Lu Fei
