After spending our afternoon at Olympic Park and Tiananmen Square, John, Kaitlyn, Tara, and I walked towards Qianmen 前門 to eat dinner and drink tea at the famous Lao She Tea House 老舍茶館。
Continue reading “Beijing: the tea culture experience at Lao She Tea House (Post #10).”
This post is about the two times I’ve been to Tiananmen Square 天安门. The first time I went there, it was just to look at the environment of the square during sunset. The second time, I went early in the morning to see the Mausoleum of Maozedong. Today, I will be going there for the third time with the UCEAP program for I-don’t-know-what. Continue reading “Beijing: Tiananmen Square (Post #9).”
I’m guilty. Four years ago, as the 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies took the world by surprise, I was holed up in my own nest playing World of Warcraft. The rest of the family sat in the living room watching the magnificent firework display above the Bird’s Nest, the drumming and countdown of the games within the stadium, the baton pass and the lighting of the fireworks. In the meantime, I was staring at pixelated characters draw their swords, shoot their wands, fire bolts out of crossbows, and other meaningless shenanigans. Continue reading “Beijing: Olympic Park (Post #8)”
Today’s post is about the Ming Dynasty Tombs, a one day adventure to the outskirts of Beijing County. The Ming Dynasty Tombs were built in the 15th century and contains 13 different tombs within driving distance of each other. A Sacred Way serves as the entrance to each of the tombs. We visited the Dingling tomb which is the only one that’s been excavated. Continue reading “Beijing: the Ming Dynasty Tombs (Post #7).”
During the first couple days in Beijing, I didn’t leave the premises of the school because I still hadn’t retrieved my debit card from the Bank of China Headquarters – the ATM machine had swallowed it the first night I was there. I felt safe exploring the rest of the city once I got it back.
Today’s post is about a single [typical] day in the city. Continue reading “Beijing: the city of spontaneity (Post #6).”
Continue reading “Beijing: more facts, observations, and niches (Post #5).”
This post is about the two-week pre-course of the study abroad program and about the my campus experiences so far.
The first day of the program officially started on Tuesday, June 19th. We received a welcome package that included individual name tags, maps of the school and the city, our school ID cards (aww yeah!), and a program guidebook. Continue reading “Beijing: the two-week pre-course (Post #4).”
Continue reading “Beijing: facts, observations, and niches (Post #3).”
This post is about my first whole day in Beijing. Some entries after this one will begin to incorporate details from multiple days. Other posts may not even talk about where I visited or what I did. Rather, I’ll talk about insights and observations about the city, the culture, and the overall environment here. Continue reading “Beijing: fantastically out of my comfort zone (Post #2).”
I’m studying at Peking University 北京大學 in Beijing, China from June 19th-July 29th. Afterward, I head towards Taiwan for ten days to see the family and travel/explore. I’m going to document my experiences here. Everything will be written in English, but I’ll occasionally add Chinese definitions or phrases that won’t interrupt the reading. Continue reading “Beijing: tiresome flights and foreigners on different shores (Post #1).”
Andy Cheng 