In saying goodbye to life in Korea, I’ve said hello to an exciting three months of traveling throughout Asia before returning home to Chicago. The first flight out of Incheon brought me to Beijing where I would have approximately 60 hours to explore all that I could of this dynamic city.

I arrived around 3pm in Beijing and was off to get my 72-hour transit stamp, which was easier than I had expected. From there it was off to find my hostel, which was more difficult than I had expected. I had somehow made it all the way to the subway stop and then misinterpreted the walking directions to the hostel. Luckily a security guard and local man seemed to notice the blonde girl buried with backpacks and offered their help in guiding me to the correct street.

What seemed like an eternity later, being weighed down by four bags, I reached my destination.

Why four bags?? A culmination of poor packing and over-packing. By the time I would reach Osaka a week later I would have gotten rid of about half of the unnecessary items I’d brought along, and scheduled a much-needed acupuncture appointment.

Anyways, back to Beijing. So I opened the door to the hostel and was amazed. It was beautiful. White walls were adorned with wooden beams and strong pillars in the center of the room. Worn wooden tables were dressed with bright pink flower arrangements and surrounded by mismatched, yet complementing chairs. The whole space was filled with lush greenery hanging from the ceiling and sprouting from planters along the walls. GORGEOUS. And exactly the breath of fresh air I needed as I was officially feeling overwhelmed from traveling and being away from my home away from home. Mind you it had only been about 6 hours since boarding the flight to leave.

I got myself settled and the sweetest front desk attendant gave me a great recommendation of a night market to head to for dinner. So like that I was off once again, determined to see a bit of nightlife in Beijing. Following the directions I was given I landed directly in the center of Donghuamen Night Market.

The market was a bustling group of small streets intersecting each other. The main streets were filled with food stalls selling everything from potstickers to scorpions on a stick. I played it safe and opted for a wrap of some sort that I have yet to determine the name of. It seemed to be stir-fried bean sprouts mixed with other veggies then wrapped up and grilled to perfection. Great for wandering around the market which is exactly what I did with the rest of the night, taking in this new city. The next day would be filled with tours of some of Beijing’s most famous places.

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