Leaving Tianjin

It's time to leave Tianjin after 9 weeks, at least I can manage basic situations but I am still far from being fluent. Looking forward to follow the Chinese language classes for foreigners back in Lanzhou, it should be possible to follow a few weeks longer than last year. The weather here was really strange, I really only started to enjoy going out in the afternoon these last two weeks. Even Beijing was a relief from the conditions here, though that city also has a bad reputation in the summertime.

Beijing, Beijing, I love BeiJing

Great blue sky again for a day trip to BeiJing, still managing to visit sites I did not know from before. The Temple of Confucius was almost as large the the temples in Qufu. Nearby there is a vegetarian restaurant offering awasome meatless dishes, and of a refined quality.

Meeting Laotse and Confucius

After another three weeks in Tianjin, the second long weekend away led me to Taishan, a Taoist mountain. The climb was tough, as the stairs were not adapted to my legs, but the view from the top was awesome, and it was worth spending a weekend there. On the second day, the destination was nearby Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, with plenty of museums dedicated to the scholar. Though overpriced, the place was a great learning experience. While waiting for the train to Beijing, I stopped at a restaurant dedicated to the Chairman Mao, a statue of him could be seen in a corner. On Monday, I stopped at the Taoist monastery of Dongyue, which features displays of the afterlife according to the imagination of the local people of centuries ago. Strangely, the sky looked very blue and the weather seemed a relief from the damp heat of Tianjin.