The Glamorous Life, Beijing Style

Beijing, the capital of China. When I hear the word Beijing, I think Mao, bad air, and too many people. None of which are on my top 10 list.

Well, the air IS bad.

AQI of 175 today which means unhealthy, wear your mask.

And Mao does still exist here.

The entrance to the Forbidden City.

And there are people, LOTS of people here.

Temple of Heaven with lots of people.

But Beijing is so much more than bad air and Mao. There's a vibrant, cosmopolitan feeling in the atmosphere. Young people ride by on bikes from one of the many bikeshare companies, fancy cars (Lexus, BMW and Mercedes are big here) drive by and the crowds are loving Sister Act.  The first night, while heading to the Great Leap Brewery, I felt like I was walking in Paris. I did. The beer scene is hopping (pun intended) and food of all cuisines is easy to find. Last week, I ate American Barbeque with another excellent Chinese beer, Slow Boat. FYI, most of these beers seem to have an ex-pat partner or two.

Once again, China has surprised me. Yes, dodging parked bikes and aggressive cars while wearing a face mask is tricky, but I'm okay with that for three weeks.

Go ahead! Park it wherever you want!

How they look after the bike company workers clean up.

I've tried to see as many sites as possible. Beloved joined me this week (he's now off to Mongolia for a few days) and we packed in even more, including:

 the Lama Temple, which is a must-see in my opinion.

the Confucius Temple

Summer Palace (which was mobbed the day I was there)

Great Wall, of course. Actually, I went there twice, once with my colleagues and once with Beloved.

Forbidden City, which is HUGE

Walking is an absolute necessity here, as is patience. Beijing is home to 22 million people and most days it feels like that many are visiting as well. I'm having no problem reaching 10,000 steps a day!

Don't forget that I also go to work every night (twice on Saturdays and Sundays), spreading love and joy. I am truly embracing the magnificent abundance and navigating gracefully (my Guiding Star slogan).

Our run here in Beijing ends on Sunday. Beloved returns from Mongolia and we head to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors on Monday. Then it's on to Shanghai for 2 weeks there.

There's so much to tell you, but this must be enough for now. Please feel free to ask questions by posting a comment here on Creatavita or on your favorite social media platform.