fortes.com

Life in Beijing has improved by leaps and bounds in the past few days. This is mostly due to the temperature decrease (although it’s starting to heat up again). I’m getting into new routines and adjusting to the initial culture shock — I haven’t had an “I wanna go home” moment since that feverish first weekend (perhaps I’m too sensitive to temperature?).

Last night was the first time I started to understand why people fall in love with Beijing.

I ate the best Korean food I’ve ever had, stuffing myself with BBQ, potato pancakes, and beer for under $5. We then went to a cool bar in the hutongs where Neema occasionally DJs on a Tablet PC (one of those things you get to do when you’re an exotic foreigner), a relaxed place with comfortable seats and courtyards.

At the end of the night (midnight, since I’m still a little jetlagged), I biked home through the hutongs. Even they’re in the middle of one of the largest cities on earth, life in the hutongs is incredibly quiet and relaxed. There were tons of people outside eating, drinking, playing board games — especially older people. The elderly in China all seem to live active, outdoor life styles — I see them doing Tai chi at all hours.

You never quite know what’s around the corner when you’re in a hutong. Maybe it’s a row of bars in restaurants, perhaps an ancient temple, park, pre-olympic demolition/construction, or (as happened to me a couple of times last night) a dead end.

Then again, maybe I was only in a good mood because it was a cool night. We’ll see this weekend.