http://blogs.birminghampost.net/lifestyle/

Moving to Beijing: Just like starting over...

By Nikki Aaron on Mar 4, 08 04:21 AM in Travel

Having spent a year in Shanghai, one would think that I would be pretty much a pro when it came to conversation, navigation and frustration. However, my move to Beijing feels like my life has been rewound a whole year and I'm having to start all over again.
The checklist still reads: 1. Familiarise myself with the city, 2. Make new friends, 3. Study Mandarin. On the upside, I suppose I could see this as an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start the new year as a new and improved me. Well...I have been eating a lot healthier, that's a start! Maybe I'm sounding negative about my move, when in actual fact, I'm really excited. I'm the kind of person that likes their own company, and enjoys being up against a challenge.

Last year, I felt a tad too secure, as I was living with another English girl. This year, i'm all alone, which makes me feel empowered and confident.
So far so good in Beijing, I've been here two weeks, and haven't yet scratched the surface of the city. I've sampled the most famous Beijing duck in the city, i've tasted the cocktails of just 2 or 3 of the trendy bars and clubs and I've familiarised myself with the nearest supermarkets, Starbucks (merely as a landmark!) and Toni and Guy.
However, I still need to locate the nearest tube station and buy myself a beijing sim card, lack of them has left me feeling cut off from the rest of Beijing.
This isn't my first time in Beijing, I visited here 5 or 6 times last year, mainly to escape Shanghai and party! So I've seen most of the sights; Tiananmen Square three or four times, The Forbidden City twice, The Great Wall three times, the Summer Palace once.
Although I have managed to tick the boxes of the some of the main tourist attractions, there are plenty of places I'm yet to visit that take a little more effort to find than jumping aboard the next tourist bus.
Whereas Shanghai is a cosmopolitan city, fabulous for shopping and bar-hopping, with beautiful weather (sparingly) and equally beautiful people (also sparingly), Beijing is the city of art and culture. I'm excited just thinking about the world outside my window!

0 TrackBacks

Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Moving to Beijing: Just like starting over.... TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.birminghampost.net/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/431

1 Comments

I will be leaving Beijing in a few days :( I feel so envious of you having just arrived here. I will really miss Beijing. Hope you will like it as much as you did Shanghai :)

Leave a comment


Type the characters you see in the picture above.

Lifestyle authors

Richard McComb

Richard McComb - Restaurant critic and columnist for The Birmingham Post
My postings | Richard McComb's RSS feed My feed

Jon Bounds

Jon Bounds - Digital consultant and creator of Birmingham: It's Not Shit
My postings | Jon Bounds's RSS feed My feed

Selina Jervis

Selina Jervis - Student and creator of fashion blog, "Flying Saucer"
My postings | Selina Jervis's RSS feed My feed

Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton - Pro-Blogger and creator of the “Created in Birmingham� blog
My postings | Pete Ashton's RSS feed My feed

Nikki Aaron

Nikki Aaron - English language teacher uncovering life in Beijing
My postings | Nikki Aaron's RSS feed My feed

brumcast

Brumcast Lite - A taste of the best of Birmingham's music scene by Brumcast creator Little Chris
My postings |Brumcast Lite's RSS feed My feed

Sarah Gee

Sarah Gee - Young professional and founder of Indigo PR
My postings | Sarah Gee's RSS feed My feed

Jo Ind

Jo Ind - Features writer and columnist for The Birmingham Post
My postings | TJo Ind's RSS feed My feed

Andrew Cowen

Andrew Cowen - Features writer and columnist for The Birmingham Post
My postings | Andrew Cowen's RSS feed My feed

Sid Langley

Sid Langley - Freelance writer and cultural commentator
My postings | Sid Langley's RSS feed My feed

Michael Mclean

Michael Mclean - Cinema manager at Birmingham Odeon
My postings | Michael Mclean's RSS feed My feed

Pint Sized

Pint Sized - Searching the best ale in the West Midlands
My postings | Pint Sized's RSS feed My feed

Keep up to date

Sponsored Links