Today was an afternoon off from class, so after an ordinary Chinese class (we learned some phone call dialogue) and a brief lunch meeting about tomorrow's excursion, I went with Carmichael Laoshi (aka Professor Carmichael, aka the fellow from my residential college who is also on this trip) in search of some tourism at the Niujie Mosque and the Temple of the Origin of Dharma.
Well, we took a quick subway ride on Line 4, and easily found the mosque, only we couldn't go in because of reasons, and so I snapped some photos from the outside. This is the oldest mosque in China and dates from the Song Dynasty. It is still in use and is home to the largest concentration of Chinese Muslims. The building from the outside had classic Chinese architecture reminiscent of any building of the era, but was in a very modern area that had a lot of Hallal restaurants. I was satisfied with taking pictures from the outside.
We proceeded to try to find the Temple, but it was a lot more difficult than we expected. It was supposed to be around the block from the Mosque, and I think we found the compound, but there was no easily accessible entrance, so we ended up wandering through the surrounding Hutongs trying to find it but really having quite a nice time exploring. We did find the Hunan Guild Hall, which is where Mao Zedong lived in Beijing, and the Lianhua Temple, where scholars have lived and worked and dates from the Ming era.
After wandering the Hutongs for about two hours, we pulled out all our maps and tried to find some other things nearby. We decided to head to a park which was literally in the middle of the city, right by Xuanwu Hospital. The park was a little oasis in the middle of the city. There were gorgeous trees, shrubs, roses, and other flowers in a secluded, quiet environment with the bustling city just one step away. It is a very interesting juxtaposition, especially with the way sound gets muffled in the park itself.
After the park, we started to make our way toward a shopping tourist Hutong that was mentioned in my map book. On the way, we found a grocery store which we stopped in to get some cold beverages, look at the packages, and I got some hand sanitizer wipes because I really like those. It is really a lot of fun to look around these everyday type places! As we continued on our way, we got lost in a gated community and got some funny looks from the residents until we realized our mistake and then proceeded through the back streets back to the main road.
It was then that Professor Carmichael mentioned that we were in a particularly affluent area. She pointed out the presence of gated communities, the quality of the architecture, the types of cars, the proximity to the city center, and the lack of street vendors. We really did not see any street vendors all day, and I usually get targeted by them, so that was interesting and refreshing. We wandered a lot more, and walked through a legitimate, unrenovated Hutong, but could not find the area we were looking for, so then headed back toward the Mosque to find a restaurant for dinner.
We ate a place called Youth Restaurant. It had a very nice, clean, modern atmosphere, and it was filled with locals. It was then that we realized that we had not seen any other foreigners all day, and it was really cool to be so far off the beaten path. For dinner we had three cold dishes (cucumbers with garlic, shredded tofu, and tofu wrapped vegetables) and two hot dishes (kung pao chicken and sauteed cauliflower). I really liked everything we ordered. The cucmbers were very light and the garlic was delicous. The shredded tofu had a very clean taste with some earthy bitterness from the greens mixed in. The wrapped vegetables were fresh with a wonderful dipping sauce. The chicken had a stickier, sweeter sauce than usual which I enjoyed as a counterpoint to the spiciness, and the cauliflower had the flavorful spicy taste that I like.
After dinner, we subwayed back to campus. My favorite thing about the day is that we never actually made it to any of the spots we thought about hitting, but we had a great time anyway and conversation never lagged. We talked about Beijing, Bei Da, Northwestern, the residential college, how our classes are going, experiences with food, trouble with the internet, things we study and are interested in, and if/how we would get back to China. It was really nice to just talk.
There were a lot of things that she asked me about what I'm studying and how I see it playing into my future, also incorporating other interests she knows I have, and I had never thought about the particular questions or their answers before, but I was able to answer them. In doing so, I realized that I actually do know a lot about myself, where I want to be, and what my opinions on these topics are, and that I can voice them in an intelligible fashion. I didn't realize it in the moment, but I'm really proud that I've thought about a topic that's important to me enough to have an opinion without having to rehearse it. I guess it's my take on things, so now I just have to develop it further.
Today is awesome because I got to explore a new district of Beijing.
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