spices and strides

First full day in Beijing! I was previously in Beijing in 2008 with my prior study abroad group. That time, they shuttled us around to all the tourist sites, so this time I was free to see another side of Beijing. After my friend finished class at 10 am, we ate malaxiangguo (super spicy!) and then wandered around Yuanmingyuan (the old summer palace---it is right outside of Beijing University) for a few hours. Maybe 'wandered' is not the correct word... more like we got lost in all the twists and turns of the area, haha~ That afternoon, we went to the Beijing Dance Academy where I met up with my former choreographer, who was a visiting scholar at my home college and created a solo for me back in March. He gave my friend and I a tour of Beijing Dance Academy where he is a professor of Chinese folk dance. (The photo above is from a dance class that we got to watch a part of.) Afterwards, we wandered around some hutongs and then went to Houhai for dinner, where we ate hotpot---my first time! Since I was still sick, I ended up falling asleep at 9:45 pm...