i can see!

i'm really starting to think that my love of beijing is purely based on the fact that i am staying at an incredible youth hostel. the people are friendly, the days are lazy and everynight we drink in the courtyard or on the street. i'm just having an incredible time and really liking watching the locals on our street go about their everyday life. yesterday they were drinking with us, some guy was even dancing. people here seem to be really go-happy in the end, and they don't care much about things like walking in the street in your pj or night gown.

the sights in beijing though have not been spectacular. in japan there were many places that i visited where i thought were incredible and took my breath away or brought tears to my eyes due to the sheer beauty. but here, nothing as such. perhaps it's because you think forbiden city and have this idea built up in your head... but you get there and it's cold it seems. nice, but not woiw. as well, beijing is completely under renovation and construction so most sights are open but the main focus will be closed to the public and baricated. it's a little disapointing when you get there and see that instead and the actual building. but yesyerday we went to the summer palace, and that was lovely and the parc was really nice. it was good to see mountains! the main attraction was closed off of course but we hiked up to the one behind and it was a beautiful building covered in buddha carvings... but all of the buddhas had been beheaded... it was really upsetting to see.

tomorrow i am going to the wall on a private tour so i will be in a section with no tourists, which should be really nice. and then after i get back i am heading out to the train station to take the overnight train to xian.

it will be really sad leaving this place and the people... i hope that my trip will be filled with these sorts of wonderful encounters and moments.

------------

yesterday i saw the sky, blue sky, for the first time. lovely!

i am highly allergic to the dust here and am having a really hard time, sneezing and blowing my nose constantly. sucks!