A Bronc in Beijing

Claudia is a UTPA senior who is spending a year living and working in Beijing to learn Mandarin Chinese. The political science major hopes to inspire others to take the road less traveled through this chronicle of her time in the Far East.

Yay! So I made it safe to Beijing! After 23 hours I am already here. It has been an experience, few people speak English, and the little Mandarin I know has been enough to get me around. I took a shuttle bus from the airport to the Beijing Train Station, that is the cheapest way to get to the city since the airport is in the outer part of Beijing and taxis want to get the most out of you. Then I took a cab to the hotel and paid a total of 36RMB which is $5.70. A taxi from the airport would have charged me 300RMB. Advice for future travelers – Beware of black/illegal cabs, they can charge you twice as much and are not licensed!

My hotel is located in the center area of Beijing very near to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. My first Beijing experience was the Hutongs, they are the famous alleys of Beijing formed by courtyard houses. The smell of some alleys is quite strong, sour, new to me and hard to describe. There are restaurants, shops, little bakery stands, and the best part, a Starbucks. Good to keep me warm in this weather!

Walking through the alleys can be a little dangerous if you are just staring at the buildings and not looking where you’re walking. I almost got ran over by a bike! People would stare at me, they were probably thinking what was a foreigner walking alone through these streets. There are also other foreigners but they usually travel in groups.

I stopped at a restaurant to get some food, it was easy to order since the menu has pictures. Since it was my first meal I went with something safe, Kung Pao chicken and fried rice. I paid a total of 39RMB and there was enough food for two people.

After a delicious meal, I went back to the hotel. My inside clock has the US central time, so I fell asleep at around 3pm (1am US time) and did not wake up until 11pm. Three hours later I took a pill to go back to sleep. I need to take advantage of the daylight to continue exploring this beautiful city!