Emperor's Territory

Last week we stayed at Peking University, where I lived and worked more than 15 years ago, so it was a sort of homecoming. As a matter of fact I stayed in the exact same building as when I was studying Chinese. Right across the street is Yuanmingyuan, a palace garden built for the emperors two centuries ago, but it was destroyed and looted by 8 western countries. Just slightly NW is the Summer Palace, an almost 3 km2 park built in 1750, and also destroyed by foreign powers. Both parks are now major tourist attractions and well worth a visit.

Bikeless in Beijing

These past two weeks work has taken me to Beijing and it looks like next week will be the same, leaving me bikeless for a few weekends and slowly falling out of shape...
Having lived in Beijing in the past, however, it's great to see old places again. While in the Haidian district for work, I did take out half an hour to visit Peking University, where I spent a few years both as a teacher and student. Mainly regarded as China's number one university, it has a unique campus with fantastic architecture.



"Beida's" West Gate



Weiminghu or "No Name Lake"





The "Russian Building", where I used to teach