Trip to Beijing

Day 1: Monday
When I first arrived to Beijing and started walking the streets on Monday afternoon, I was surprised at some of the differences between Shanghai and Beijing. In Beijing, people are generally taller and more kind, the roads are bigger roads and city layout is more spacious, and the air is cleaner! Everyday last week, in fact, the sky was blue in the mornings and afternoons. It was a fabulous week for traveling.

After getting picked up at the metro station by a fellow couchsurfer who was staying a the same host’s apartment, we walked around a little bit until we met up with our host later that evening. When I first entered the host’s apartment, I was startled to see a huge-wooden-penis ashtray on the table. Brandon and I looked at each other with the kind of face that says, “Well, to each their own.”

My host, Alain, is flamboyantly gay and he’s very open about his lifestyle, which was admittedly awkward at first. After speaking with Alain over the 4 days I couchsurfed with him, I really came to appreciate him. He’s hosted over 30 couchsurfers and he was an incredible host who connected me with other people CSing in Beijing, told what places to see and where to eat, and he has an impeccably clean apartment, all of which made for an incredible first CouchSurf. Hanging out with Alain made me realize what CSing is all about: trusting that people are generally good and meeting a diversity of individuals.




Day 2: Tuesday
Policemen, surveillance cameras, and tons of tourists are how I can characterize Tian’anmen Square, which is simply a huge and unimpressive square of stones with a monument in the middle. What is impressive, however, is the entrance to the Forbidden City where Chairman Mao gave a speech on October 1, 1949, to commemorate the founding of the People’s Republic of China. With the flags gloriously waving in the wind, it really hit me that I was in China and at the country’s cultural and political heart.

Before entering the Forbidden City, however, I wanted to see the location of China’s rubber-stamp congress at the Great Hall of the People. I will spare you from the boring details and simply state that the 30 RMB I paid was wasted.

Not to be deterred, my hopes were still high to see the sights Beijing had to offer, so I entered the Forbidden City (aka, the Palace Museum). This palace took over 15 years to build and I could see why. The grounds are huge and it was a great way to get a feel for how the emperor’s lavishly lived.

Heading the advice of other Couchsurfers, I soon walked north of the FC to climb to the top of Jingshan Park because the view of the Forbidden City is picturesque.

Beihai Park, to the northwest of the Forbidden City, was next of the list of sights. Upon entering the park, I stopped in my tracks to witness the beauty of the day and how majestic it made the park feel. Walking around the center island, I heard the sound of a flute play along with traditional Chinese music, and I eventually found an old man jamming out by himself with a small sound system he brought to the park.

Tuesday night was a time to meet up with more Couchsurfers, and I went to the college part of town (Wudaokou) to meet up with about 7 people, coming from England, the Netherlands, France, China, and Russia.



Day 3: Wednesday
When the sun rose early in the morning, I was still snoring the morning away. When I did awake, however, my fellow CSer and I headed to Military museum near the city-center. Filled with Communist propaganda, this 5-story museum did a pretty good job of showing the history of Chinese war.

Day 4: Thursday
Ring…ring, “Wei, ni hao.” It was 4:15 in the morning and a driver was coming to the apartment to pick me up. On a good day, my Chinese is somewhat intelligible when accompanied with sign language, but at 4:15 AM, my Chinese is horrendous. I’m still wondering how the heck the driver found me.

I opened the car door, piled into the seat, and we were off to pick up 3 more Chinese people (because I was on a Chinese tour to the Great Wall). Once they stepped into the car, I received this look that said, “What’s he doing here?” Undeterred, and with my electronic dictionary in hand, I started chatting with them to mitigate the awkwardness of ride we had left together.

We arrived in Tian’an Men Square around 6:10 AM to see the flag raising. About 1,000 people packed around the flagpole to see the color guards patiently and methodically pace out of the Meridian Gate and into the Square. The flag rose, a song played, and then it was over. Despite the simplicity, it was interesting to witness the culture and observe the observers.

The ride to the Great Wall was quick because I was counting Chinese characters in my sleep—the 4:15 wake up was catching up to me. I was awoken by the sound of the tour guide’s voice rambling on about the Great Wall, of which I understood a little. And then we approached the Great Wall—my energy levels began to increase.

Like cattle walking through a bottleneck, we eagerly exited the bus and prepared to head to the Wall for the climb. The Great Wall challenges visitors with a climb up its daunting steps from the very beginning. And from the look of the smoothed steps, millions of people have been here. It took a while to climb to the top, where a Communist-red flag waved in the wind, but upon reaching the peak, my breath was taken away.

For about 4 years, I’ve carried a piece of paper in my wallet with a list of my dreams. One of those was to see the Great Wall. Timely as it was, I pulled out the list and ceremonially checked off and dated the dream.


Climbing the Great Wall is about more than witnessing humanity’s ability to construct awe-inspiring structures. For me, standing atop the Wall was one of those reality-checking moments. It made me stop and realize that I was not only fulfilling my dreams by living in a foreign country and seeing the Wall, but that my life was significantly different from one year ago.

Later that evening, as I was about to open the apartment door, I heard people singing next door. Being the insatiably curious cat that I am, I knocked on the door to find people singing Karaoke to the TV and found my fellow Couchsurfer joining the fun. We sang a couple of numbers, then headed back to the apartment.

We didn’t want the fun to stop, so it was time for a little movie making. Dressed with rainbow wigs on our heads, we decided to make a pseudo-infomercial for Couchsurfing. Needless to say, we won’t be airing the infomercial.

Day 5: Friday
It was time to switch hosts because my host and fellow CSer were heading out of town, so I backed my bags and headed to a coffee shop early in the morning, waiting for a good time to head to my new host’s house.

My new host was 27 years old and co-owned a carbon-credit trading business that had about 5 employees. Her apartment, like my previous host’s, was spacious and clean. We talked for a little bit, then she handed me the spare key before she went to her office.

It’s worth noting the ease with which she handed me a key to her private residence despite knowing relatively nothing about me. It was one example of what Couchsurfing truly represents. The whole CS idea is predicated on the notion that people are essentially good and trustworthy. It took a tremendous amount of good faith for her to open her home to me and it reassured me that there are plenty of good, trustworthy people on this earth.

Around 6:30 it was BBQ time! Beijing CSers were having a BBQ on the roof of a bar that overlooked a beautiful lake. Forty-or-so people joined the party that night and it was good to meet people who either lived in Beijing or were CSing.

With beer and BBQ in the belly, I needed to lose a couple of calories, so I went salsa dancing with a group of people around 10:30.

Day 6: Saturday
Early (aka 8:30 am) the next morning, I took the metro to see the Beijing Capital Museum and met up with my buddy Kai with whom I went to the Great Wall. The museum did a great job of showing the history of Beijing and it showed how and why the capital of China has changed over time.

Being cooped up a little too long inside the museum on a beautiful, we need to get outside and enjoy the day, so we headed to the famous Summer Palace. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with that brilliant idea because the place was packed with foreigners and Chinese. It was a fabulous day to walk around the lake and the palace grounds.

My host had a break in her busy schedule, so later on that evening we had a chance to sit down, eating chocolate and drinking a bottle of wine for a couple of hours.

Day 7: Sunday
It was time to get on the plane back to Shanghai after a long week of meeting new people and wearing in my new sneakers walking around Beijing. In many ways, I think Beijing is a better city than Shanghai, but I feel that Shanghai would be a better home for me in the next 2 years as I study Chinese and try to continue working here in the People’s Republic of China.