The previous post is Nanjing (May 17).
The next post is Beijing (May 19).

Beijing (May 18) · May 20, 09:11 AM

I took a hard sleeper into Beijing and slept well, taking my lazy time before an 09:30 arrival. I checked into the hostel (on a busy market street about 0.5 km from Tiananmen) as soon as I found it. The next five hours … bad. Instead of trecking across temples and parks and squares and hutongs under the dusty sky, instead I sat at computers. First I tried again to burn a DVD—though I gave up and settled for a set of 7 CDs after crashing one of their computers (I was working in a phone shop). Then I was online researching how I could spend the rest of my visa. I’m flying north to Yanji, capitol of the Korean Autonomous Prefecture. From there I will attempt to make Changbai Shan and Heaven Lake for a couple days of hiking around remote Chinese wilderness. Me and throngs of tourists, I’m sure. Then I go to Harbin, somehow. On the 26th or 27th I must exit the country and re-enter. I will use the Shenzhen/Hong Kong border, and take a couple days in Hong Kong to run errands and plan my second thirty days on the mainland.

There are no clouds in the sky, but you still can’t see the sun for all the dust. Still, at “sunset” I watched soldiers march out and take down the Chinese flag in Tiananmen to a reasonable crowd of cameras and onlookers. I met and talked with a couple people.

At the hostel, I haven’t connected with anyone. In the city it’s crowds of western tourists and shaggy backpackers who seem to buy stuff close to the asking price, and who can’t use chopsticks. Maybe when I return and stay a couple days … but I’m not enjoying this hostel at all.

On the other hand, I had a great time talking with “Miller” who was working in a small convenience shop three doors down. He sold me water for 1.5Y. At the hostel everyone’s young and pierced and staying out late to drink. It’s culture shocking; I’m not comfortable here at all. Will I get more of this as I travel through traditional backpacker destinations?

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