Where to go in Beijing

Your host, Mark Wu is back with some Beijing insight of it’s own kind. I mean, I could start teaching about a lot of places to go to like Sanlitun (三里屯), Wangfujing (王府井), Silk Street (秀水街), Chaoyang Park (朝阳公园), and many many other great locations. But to know where to go, it’s not really about the location so much.. in fact there is so much more that one needs to understand about the city in order to find pace that is good for your tastes. There is just so much for the senses for everyone in so many parts of the city. That’s why anywhere is good!

Believe me or not, that is the best advice I can give. Everyone will have their own style, but my style is basically like this:

Take a bus or subway anywhere, and get off at a random station. Find a convenience store nearby and buy yourself a Tsingtao beer! Now you are ready for the most important part, which is to find a place to sit down. Now relax and be in the moment, observe the people are you and what they are doing. This could teach you a lot about, what China is like. And then, magic will happen. You might see something interesting, talk to some people. You might end up going to eat lunch with a group of Chinese. Who knows, but it all starts from being still and observing. That is the magic of Beijing, it happens all the time. People are so friendly, talkative and everything something interesting is happening. Only way you can miss it, if you are too busy to notice it. That’s why you need to lay low a little.

Actually this is probably the best secret I could give for enjoying Beijing. But having you understand this, makes it easier to understand the rest of the posts on my blog. Try it out, and enjoy! 🙂


Learning to Like Beijing

Hi everyone! It’s your host Mark Wu here. Beijing is getting it’s Autumn color, which you can barely see through the “autumn fog” that surrounds it. It’s an interesting feeling actually, because hen it gets colder, it starts to get more moist. And the old buildings and chunks of non-breathing concrete that surrounds you starts to smell. But it’s more than a smell, it’s more of a feeling.

That feeling is not a warm nice feeling, but something that you have to stay in Beijing for years for to learn to like. You feel like you need to get up and do things to get things done. It motivates you, rather than makes you still. Indeed, winter is the time to get shit done in China. And that’s exactly what I am set out to do. Which means, more blog writing to keep my fingers warm for example.

Do you like my new header image? I had it custom made to my mood of the season. Here is a poem I recently wrote:

Beijing, at first I was curious.

Soon, I learned to hate you.

Then I met you and here I am.

Afraid that if I leave you, I will be haunted with memories of a beauty that will never be understood.

That sums up my mood! And since this trip is not for ever, it will haunt me anyway.. sooner or later.