I’ve been living in Beijing for the last 4 years and ever since I came I haven’t been able to leave. No matter how miserable my situation was here; how much I missed home, family, friends… I still couldn’t leave this city – this life of constant inspiration, sporadic surprises that fulfill your days even though you don’t really have a career, a relationship or even a vision of that happening, those surprises and those frequent reminders of how different a world can be, were enough to capture my heart. The first year or so I was just completely in love with the dirt and dust of this city. Walking slowly through whatever hutong I could find on my way anywhere, I saw a glimpse of someone else’s world, one after the other, cramped into the smallest corners in this huge town.
I fell quickly in love with the people. I came here early spring and by then everybody was wearing their pajamas again after an icy cold winter, walking to the public bathrooms or the local hair salon. I have always been an observer and Beijing became my ultimate paradise. This is the place you can stare, as they definitely will stare at you for the rest of your days here. The fact that I would never fit in here became obvious very early on. After learning a few phrases, drinking my tea every morning, carrying it with me in a glass thermos like everybody else while going to parks and markets, even changing to an all Chinese diet you would think that you eventually would fit in. No, you never do. What you learn is to prove to them how Chinese you really are and how much you truly care about their culture by communicating with them in their language.
With this site my intention all along is to lift up everything inspiring I can find in this hometown of mine. This is where I belong, the Beijinger that I am.
北京 HUB 
Posted on October 24, 2010
0