Beijing Life

I have decided to revive this blog, as I will be traveling to Xinjiang at the end of July. I have decided to leave China when my visa runs out - which is in September - maybe go traveling to Vietnam, Laos and Australia, and then move to London for a while. Life in Beijing the last year has been hard, but also fun and a great experience. I have been trying to study the language at University here, finding it extremely difficult. Originally I had planned to stay at least one more year, but I changed my plans, as my girlfriend suddenly broke up with me out of the blue a few weeks ago. Still trying to cope with the pain and grief after nearly five years together.

I spent the weekend in the small town of 丰城 (Fengcheng) in Inner Mongolia with some friends, some eight hours drive northwest of Beijing. We left Friday evening by minibus and came back Sunday evening. Our little international group of 13 had a fantastic time riding old and stubborn horses, eating roast lamb, drinking and eating around a bonfire - we introduced the local kids to roasted marshmallows, driving through the steppe on quad-bikes, partying with the locals - including a short stint at karaoke, lazing around on the banks of a lake and generally enjoying the open countryside, clean air and starlit skies. Still feeling very sore from the horse riding and have a slight sunburn, but it was fantastic to get away from the smog, noise and sprawl of Beijing!