I don't know whether it was the freedom of travelling solo, the thrill of skipping one whole week of class (that's a big deal here), or the fact that China's capital is such a welcoming and cultural city, but I must say, Beijing has been the best city I have been to so far.
This trip to Beijing had been decided since 2 years ago, when I first made the decision to participate in the Great Wall Half Marathon. That was the main purpose of the trip, but it seemed pretty obvious to also spend a week there to explore the city as well.
I had visited Beijing once before with my family, but it was so long ago I assumed I had forgotten everything. Prior to this, I was always of the mentality that it's a bit of a waste to bring young children on overseas trips as when they grow older, they'll just forget. It seemed like it was more for bragging rights on the playground than for anything else.
But when I returned this time to places like The Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, I was hit by the greatest sense of deja vu. I know I have been here before, but now I actually remembered! I remembered walking down the 'Long Corridor' with my parents - my father filming, while my mother pointed out that each painting on the thousand beams were different.
But everything else in Beijing was new to me, probably because everything else beyond the walls of UNESCO World Heritage protection is allowed to change.
I'm an outspoken advocate of travelling solo, but I cannot lie, I am always a bit hesistant the first day of any trip, and I wonder to myself why I didn't just go for the safety net of travelling with someone familiar. But deep down I knew it would be rewarding, and I was not disappointed at all.
One of my biggest fears was the question: Is it safe for a female to travel solo around China? And I can definitely say yes, well in Beijing at least.
I love Beijing, not just because it has weaved culture and history so well into the hutongs of the modern metropolis, but because it has done something I didn't think was ever in me - it has ignited a sense of genuine pride in my heritage and it has restored my faith in Chinese people.
Growing up outside of China, it is so easy to believe all the stereotypes you hear about this country. Even studying in Hangzhou, deep down I was always the foreigner who detested the spit on the side walks, the pollution, the noise.
But there's something about being by yourself in the cultural capital that makes it so clear that deep down this country is rooted in beauty too. Sure, China is the place where you can get fake eggs and melamine in your milk powder, but it's also the country that built the longest man-made structure in the world. It's got a government with questionable moral rights and intentions but that does not represent the honesty and 热情 of all it's people.
It's not perfect, but it's made me proud to be Chinese.
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