I’ve visited many of the most well-known tourist spots in Beijing, but I don’t know the city as good as I thought. I need to use the maps on my phone every time I go out. I would very much like to help a lost tourist on the street but then I realize I don’t really know the area.

So I took the opportunity of the Golden Week to explore deeper into the city. And now there is only one day left for the holiday. The sad thing is, I believe I would still need my map next time. But I did come across some interesting scenes.

This must be one of the best.

There’s a large open space near where I live. It was almost dusk time when I walked there. The air was fresh and cool with a gentle breeze. I saw this family. The dad was flying a small kite. As soon as it was flying, the two kids started cheering and chasing it, leaving their mom behind, who watched them with great tenderness. I managed to capture this lovely moment. It touched me and brought me joy just recalling it in my mind.

Here is a very normal picture of a random street. It’s all traditional-styled buildings on both sides. It was the banner that caught my eye. “Long live the great Chinese people; Long live the great Communist Party of China.” With that man riding by, I got a kind of time travelling illusion.

On the National Day, I accidentally found several senior singing troupes in the Jingshan Park. They stood together in circles in the open spaces, singing or/and dancing jubilantly. The songs were old and I didn’t know most of them except Ode to the Motherland. I actually hummed along in the crowd as the enthusiasm and patriotism they showed were infectious. A foreign friend asked me, will the young come to sing when the old stop? I don’t know but seems unlikely. The older generation and young generation have different feelings for the country which are also manifested in different ways. The Internet is the young’s battleground.

It happened that I met a similar group the other day while strolling in a park near home. I sat by the lake the whole afternoon reading, and I kept hearing music sounds. First it was someone playing the flute. He or she must be still practicing as it came intermittently. But it was quite nice. Later I heard Peking Opera accompanied by Erhu performance. With the exquisite pavilions on the lake and in the bushes, I found the singing perfect for the occasion. Just when I was leaving I saw the trio right there enjoying themselves. Isn’t that great!

I was always thinking of walking to the well-known Hutong with the beautiful name of At the Depth of Various Flowers. I ended up in another Hutong, Apricot in Full Blossom, equally if not more beautifully named. But the English translation must have compromised the beauty to some extent. To be honest, the two Hutongs looked no different from others, and actually seemed a little bit run-down. But the poetic names made great differences.

I also learned that three roads in Beijing are named after three generals. I’m going to walk the roads and share the stories I learned next time.

On my way home the day before the Mid-autumn Festival I took this photo of the moon casually. The irony was that the next day I walked hours to the Temple of the Moon to see the moon, only to find that I went the wrong way and only got a glimpse of the bright shining moon through the gap between leaves. That didn’t kill the fun though as I really enjoyed the night view of the financial district of Beijing when heading back.

Hope you enjoyed your holiday too wherever you went.