Parks

One thing that I find amazing in Beijing are the parks! When you first think of Beijing parks do not come to mind. One of my first discoveries upon moving here was the amount of parks. The second day I was here I went and explored the parks. The parks here are amazing! They have pagodas that people can sit in, beautiful lakes, grassy lands with trees.

When friends get together back home, they usually go to each others houses. They hang out in the background and BBQ. You usually play games, talk or do other activities together. Here in Beijing people live in small apartments and have no backyards. The parks are the backyard of Beijing. People meet at the park and do all of these things! While they don't bbq they eat steamed buns, weird food in bags, corn on the cob and sausages on a stick. I have seen the Beijing matchmaking at work in the park. (Parents meet and try to find prospective brides and grooms for their children). Woman knit and gossip about the day affairs. Men sit around chess boards playing Chinese Checkers (it is literally called that!)

 A beautiful lake surrounded by trees in the middle of the park. People like to sit near the lake and take in the view!

 One of the many pagodas that people will sit in. As you see below people sit in the pagodas doing various activities!

The community feel in Beijing is inspiring. I love going to parks here, people back home need to go out and enjoy each other. Too often we see neighbors where the streets are quiet, no one is outside playing with each other. Instead people should gather at a local park and just hang out. Its a nice feeling. Its nice coming home at night and seeing people gather outside. They just enjoy being with each. Parks provide that opportunity for me. I love parks, they are one of my new favorite things!