Throwback Thursday: Beijing Public Parks

My first trip to China (PRC) was back in 2005, now about 10 years ago.  A decade ago, I spent a semester studying Chinese at WorldLink Education in Beijing's CBD or Central Business District in SoHo.  In about four and a half months at this intensive language program, I was enrolled in 30 hours of Chinese language a week, and went from knowing almost no Chinese to a year three university Chinese class!  If you're thinking about joining an intensive language program and will be in Beijing,  definitely give WorldLink some consideration.  If you're more generally considering immersion language classes, I highly recommend them- there is no better, more effective way to learn.

As most people know, Beijing has gotten a lot of bad press regularly over the years because of its heavy pollution and often dangerous levels of particulate matter in its air.  This was certainly the case in 2005, with only one day approximately every two weeks having clear blue skies.  Given this rather bleak situation, one of my classmates and I, both photography enthusiasts, made it our mission to take advantage of every blue sky day to visit sites in the city to photograph them with the coveted blue backdrop.  Aside from getting the stereotypical 'good' photos that demand blue sky, I really wanted to depict Beijing in the best possible light; it is an amazing city with a varied population of equally amazing people, and all of it deserves to be captured in the most beautiful way possible.

On my most recent trip to Beijing to visit friends, I noticed a marked improvement of the air quality (though it is still bitterly cold and dry in the winter!).  On my visit in 2011, almost every day had beautiful blue skies, and while in more recent history Beijing seems to have abandoned the goal of clear skies, it was absolutely gorgeous when they were enforcing this policy.


You could easily spend a lifetime in Beijing and not see everything that this single city has to offer- but if you just have a few days, I would definitely try to work in some of Beijing's parks, especially Beihai Park, to take in both the beauty and culture of this unique city.  For an even more unique view, get to Beihai or any other large park in the early mornings around dawn to hear amateurs singing Beijing Opera and playing accompanying instruments, fan dances, water calligraphy, and if the wind is right, kite flying.  Later in the day, parks come alive with snacks sellers, wedding photo sessions, fishing, cricket competitions, and people taking their birds for walks in their cages.  This scene is uniquely Beijing, and is something that I am constantly nostalgic for; if you get the chance to experience this beautifully chaotic scene, don't pass it up!