Arts & Parks (days 15 and 16)

Ah, the end of my second full weekend here in Beijing. 

And what a great weekend it was! Friday just relaxing, saturday Black Rabbit and sunday 798: The Beijing art district. It didn't look very promising from the outside, but the further in we went, the smaller, cuter and more original the little shops and galleries became. 798 is a labyrinth of galleries displaying all kinds of artists and art outside as well as inside. Some gallery owners didn't mind us taking pictures, so I included a few that I took. There was a lot of extremely original art, it was really a nice place to visit (and I'm not that much into museums...). There were also a few small shops that sold hand-painted little paintings and lots of other really original design things. 
Such a pity it was quite expensive! I bought a little present for a friend on that side anyway, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this blog so it'll still be a surprise =). I also (finally) took one of my typical little pictures (to the left around here). I hope you like it. Anyway, after the art district I ate a hamburger at (=O) McDonalds. 
No, I'm not ashamed to admit that I was quite craving McDonalds. You would be craving for something like that too if you had been eating Chinese food for a full 2 weeks after 18 years of not having one bite of it. It was a good hamburger xD. I might also have been annoyed at some people we were supposed to be hanging out with at 798: the school/internship people are very nice and open, but also just do their own thing without thinking too much about other people, which sometimes makes it difficult to arrange doing things together. Like this time: we spent a lot of time looking for two friends who just didn't really bother looking for our group. Oh well, frustration every now and then was to be expected. I guess I feel better today, since it just was a really nice day, very active, and the weather was sooo marvellous (AGAIN!).

This is just some graffiti I found ;-).

After school some classmates and I first went to the Beijing Zoo Market, a market full of really random and very cheap clothes and... well actually, you can buy anything, from make-up to suitcases (no food- it's not that type of market). We walked around for a while, but it was so full of people we kind of gave up on looking for things we wanted. I want to go back someday by myself- it's really close to my place and I prefer shopping on my own (no-one needs to wait for you then...). 

Me in the Park.

Afterwards, we walked towards a park in Beijing called the Purple Bamboo Park. It's described on an official site as being 'a large park of 14 Hectares just to the west of Beijing Zoo and the National Library. It has three connected lakes with two islands, lotus flowers, small hills, streams, bridges, pavilions, rock gardens and about 50 varieties of bamboo. The Bamboo Park also features boating, play and exercise areas, teahouses and cafes, and a small crafts market.' Which describes it better than I could- it's a 
beautiful little park with people dancing to music and practicing their sword fighting abilities (see the vids) whilst other people are fishing, pedalling around or simply chilling. The cute little bridges, together with the blue skies, music playing from speakers around the park and the huge amount of green meant we felt a bit like we had gotten out of the city again- which was perfect, very soothing. I took lots and lots of pictures of the sunlight in the trees- but I guess overall it must not be as interesting to people who live in a wonderfully natural place (but are not aware of it. Look around you!).


After the park we went to the Chinese National Library. We could basically just walk into the place (we weren't expecting that). It was extremely modern and had a very special type of layer-architecture, which allowed you to look down from above upon a scene of hundreds of students just studying at tables, with or without computers or drinks. It was so quiet that you could actually hear the air conditioning. Suddenly I really felt like studying- I think I may be starting to understand how it is possible that Chinese students do so well in the West, too... it will take more time to figure it out completely though. From the outside the library isn't very impressive, but here's a picture of it just in case.
And tonight I finished off the evening by going out for dinner with another girl- we had pizza! Actual pizza. Why this is so special? I'll explain next time- I've been meaning for a while to explain how food works here to you guys, I'm sure you'll enjoy that. For now, good night, and take care.

Dancing! I was wrong, Chinese people DO dance.

Just not exactly in the way that I'm used to!

And this is just a girl practising. Random,

but quite cool I think you will find!