Hi everybody! How was your day?

 

I am sorry, I didn’t take the time yesterday to post my daily article, I was so exhausted.

However, I didn’t walk that much. I think that my tiredness was due to the crowd, the noise and the pollution. People are used to talk very loud, and because Beijing is densely populated (21 240 000 inhabitants!!!), the noise becomes quickly disturbing.

 

Yesterday, my day began in the airplane, when the sun was already high in the sky. The cabin crew, lovely and attentive, was starting the distribution of the breakfast. It was 08:00 AM.

 

I arrived at the airport at 09:55 AM, but it took me more than one hour to finally get my luggage. Then I walked straight to the Terminal n°3 where the train was waiting to go. It took me to the Dongzhimen station and in less than 20 minutes I was in Downtown.

 

Then I went to the youth hostel I found on internet when I was in Moscow. It is really a nice place to go with a warn atmosphere. The clientele is pretty young and cosmopolitan, and you know me, I love that! I would like to talk with some other globetrotters to share some advice, but I haven't had the time yet.

 

Then I went to Downtown to meet my friend Wang Hong in the Tiananmen Square. There is plenty of things to see like historical monuments, modern architecture and green parks. However, I noticed two mains styles of architecture: the traditional temples, built following the rules of FengShui, and the Communist architecture, sober, cold and made to be convenient. The term FengShui, 风水, is literally to be translated as “wind and water” in English. It is a symbol of the Chinese culture and I have an impression that it represents pretty well the subtle balance between tradition and modernity in China. Indeed, they give spaces to their believes and it can be quite difficult sometimes to catch their way of thinking. But the few days I am staying in Beijing really help me to comprehend the characteristics of this unrivalled culture.

 

As a traveller, I know that this is part of the culture. The smells, the sounds, the faces are all contributing to the identity of the region and the believes are the cultural background.

 

Talking about the Chinese architecture, I will have plenty of things to tell you because as I told you this morning on Twitter, I will go to the Great Wall of China.

 

If you want to know more, read on!