CHINA
Country Overview:
“Love the food, hate the government”
I arrived in China in May 2013 and left August 2020. I taught English for awhile, did my master’s of politics & foreign policy at Tsinghua University, worked for a year at China Today, and then two years at Xinhua News Agency. I spent most of my time in Beijing, but also traveled to Shanghai, Wuhan, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Panjin, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xi’an, Sanya, Macau, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
So the pin is where I’m at in Beijing. I live in ‘Sihui Dong’, which is a transfer station between Line 1 and the Batong Line. I work in 'Shuangjing’ which is on line 10. It’s about a half hour subway commute, which isn’t so bad, but it’s going to get boring real quick. Beijing is huge. I often look at the subway map and realize that between only 3-4 stations is a matter of 25-30 minutes. As soon as I get paid, I’m off to the motorcycle market.
First few days in Beijing, China
Guy in my training class is from Cuba and of course, he only wants to speak Spanish with me. He’s been in and out of China for quite some time, speaks great Chinese and has taken it upon himself to be my official city guide. Rode a subway for the first time today after getting directions in Spanish from a girl from Spain. What are the odds? The Subway system here is phenomenal. I can get anywhere I want to go in a matter of minutes for around 30 cents. I don’t think I’ll ever take a taxi again.
I’m definitely spelling this wrong but Beijing has really old parts of the city called ‘Hu-toons’ (?) and they are exactly what you would imagine when China still had emperors. It was cool to see a different side of Beijing rather than giant skyscrapers and loud streets.