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This was by far my favorite place in Beijing. There are so many nooks and crannies to be discovered in this art district and so many genuinely awesome things to look at and buy. It's incredibly under-hyped but definitely a worth the visit.

the great wall of china

According to the Chinese, walking The Great Wall of China makes men out of boys. I think walking the Great Wall of China hungover makes champions out of drunkards.

After a long night in Sanlitun we power napped and headed off to The Great Wall. Before doing so, we stopped by a Cloisonne shop and saw how beautiful metal and enamel pieces are created. Everything was intricately done by hand and the pieces were beautiful. But even more beautiful, though, was the view from the top of the wall. The wall itself was uneven, and actually pretty difficult to climb. We spent about two hours walking what we felt to be a pretty substantial distance, until we turned round and realized we hadn't even made the it past three guard towers. It was incredibly humbling to have shared even the smallest fraction of the hardship hundreds of thousands of men were subjected to.

sanlitun

Spent the night, and a good portion of the morning out in Sanlitun. I've heard that California knows how to party, but when China's nightlife lasts until 8 in the morning, I'm thinking a change of lyrics are in order.

beijing huan ying ni

Bits and pieces from my first week in Beijing. Mainly pieces of food, though.

visiting

Drove down to Richmond with Stephanie to spend the day with Bernard. We walked around, ate oysters and reconnected thousands of miles away from where we first met. I asked him about his life and how he ended up in Richmond, Virginia of all places. The happier I felt for him, the more upset I felt with myself. Here he was, someone who chased after his dream and made it. He had it all, passion, freedom, and stability. And here I was doing everything I could to avoid the inevitably of living an unpassionate but stable life in finance because somewhere down the line I had allowed someone to convince me that you couldn't have both.

california love

So, I've really dropped the ball since my last post. Two things I'm quickly realizing: 1. I'm not very good at remembering to take pictures. 2. I really am really bad at editing pictures. I'll keep these as resolutions for the year. 

For a quick recap, Anita and I celebrated graduation by driving down to Florida. I went up to NYC with Stephanie to play and to inhale soup dumplings. And lastly, I'm out in California for some design work and subsequently I'm spending Valentine's Day with Gemma. Even across the country my boy has proven to be a sweetheart who knows me quite well. The note reads, "Sorry, they didn't come in black."

the end of a beginning

It's graduation time, and I don't quite have my life together yet. But I do have good friends and a long list of places I want to visit. After years and years of meticulously scheduled days I've decided to take a year off for myself. This was actually a hard decision for me. When all your friends are landing jobs at prestigious firms and all you've got is a vague travel itinerary, you can't help but second guess your choice to diverge from the fast track. But I'm cashing out my savings and following my gut on this one. I can't wait to cross state line and international borders.