Beijing

After leaving my home in Beijing and moving to USA for 12 years to pursue education and career, I came back with my mom to attend Peking University's 100 year anniversary. My parents both got their education in the university, and worked there as professors afterwards. I grew up within the residential section of the university campus, and attended the University Primary School. A former private garden of a Manchu Prince, the campus has the flavor of an imperial garden like the famous Summer Palace nearby, with a large artificial lake and a pleasure boat carved in stone. Strolling around the lake and its smaller connecting lakes in summer, or skating on them in winter had been my favorite childhood pastimes.

This time I visited my high school, and was able to hook up with a few classmates and teachers who still live and work around here, reminiscing our happy times as teenagers. It was a wonderful gathering. Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned and I lost all my photos on this trip.

My dad asked his driver to take me around town for sightseeing. While riding in the car I had deep conversations with him who was about the same age as myself. We went to the western suburbs of Beijing where the mountains rise up steeply, and reached a mildly scenic canyon named Longmenjian (Dragon Gate Canyon). Back in downtown I got a chance to drive a few blocks on Beijing's main thoroughfare, the Chang'an Avenue.

I went to Nanjing with my mom for a brief visit of her extended family, then to Shanghai to fly back to USA.