summer palace

So I've been sweating like crazy here in Beijing, as I move from place to place, seeing sights and getting things ready for my journey to the west. The first full day I was here, I took 3 lines of the subway (that's the maximum) to drop off my passport so as to get my visa fixed. By the time I got back to my base of operations, it was the afternoon, and I was soaked through.

I took a shower and a nap, got up, and took a cab to the new Summer Palace. It is gorgeous. Built around a lake after the "Anglo-French Invasion of 1860" burnt down the old one, much of it is a line of bridges connecting small islands across the body of water. On the north end of the lake, a palace presides over the complex, giant and imposing.

It was too late when I got there to go inside, but I was happy walking around the lake and decompressing. There were fishermen (I use that in the same way I use the word guys) all around the lake, and even a few people with spears. I can't be sure if they were going for frogs or fish, but this spear was one wicked looking implement.

As the sun went down, the Palace quieted, until I was practically the only 老外 there. I sat on a bench reading about what the Americas were like before Colombus, when a red flash of light caught my eye. It looked like it was the light of a radio tower in the distance, but because of the property of aerial perspective, it seemed too close. As I went to investigate, I could not figure it out. It seemed a red lantern was floating about 20 feet over the water, swinging back and forth, seemingly hung on the sky. UFO was my first guess, and I got pretty excited.

It turned out to be a man I had seen earlier flying kites. His wife had attached a battery-powered LED lantern to the string of his kite, and so in a sense, it was hung on the sky. It was fairly unworldy.

back again

Well, I apologize again. For some reason it's difficult for me to stay up with my blog when I'm in transition. For the past two months I have been saying goodbye to 成都 (Chengdu). I've been reading articles about 宁夏 (Ningxia). I've been a lump on a log doing nothing.

But soon that will all change. Right now I'm in 北京 (Beijing) on vacation, visiting friends, and meeting a few people who consult with the NGO I'm working with. It's been fun, but a little overwhelming. 五道口(Wudaokou), the neighborhood where I'm staying, houses Tsinghua and Beijing Universities, as well as Google, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems. The 老外(laowai) ratio is pretty high.

I'm staying with Jake who has been in country for 3 years and Wiley who has been here for 5. My paltry 9 months pales in comparison.

On Saturday, I fly to 宁夏 to begin my adventure. I hope during that time that my Chinese improves and that I grasp at some sort of direction in which to take my life. Either way, it's gonna be an experience.