Sure, I have strolled around Beijing many times and have seen all the spots you see as a visitor. But now that I moved here, other things catch my interest. So, I put on my running shoes today and went off through Hutongs, parks, along lakes, through Universities. I saw bookstores, museums, a drama school for experimental theatre, galleries, people playing cards, and dancing in the parks. I chatted with people and found that the Beijingers have a good spirit. You can joke with them even beyond the language barrier. There are corner shops, handymen, repairshops of all kinds. Beijing is a graceful capital and a pleasant neighbourhood at the same time. Just coming back from a trip to South America, I also appreciated that it sems absolutely safe in any place. Perhaps it is also because my sportswear is so old that I look like a migrant worker myself, just a bit taller and a long nose. And I had only 50 Renminbi in my pocket, of which I spent 12 for a roadside lunch and 1.5 for a bottle of water. Who should rob me like that? When I came back, my GPS showed that I ran 32 kilometers. Good start.
Marcus Schütz