Visitors From Distant Lands: Beijing City Stay

This brilliant guest post comes from Jenny Rose, an Account Executive in our Groups Department. Previously she studied the Mayan culture of Latin America and taught English abroad in Mexico and Phuket, Thailand.

In the 1800’s, Washington Irving once wrote of the disconnect one experiences in seeing your familiar native land disappear behind you and re-entering society in an exotic new one sometime later.

Though he wrote of travel by sea, this concept holds true in modern day with travel by air. I recently felt this same disconnect in seeing the patchwork plotted land of the US fade away below me only to set foot on terra firma on the complete opposite side of the earth in exotic Beijing, China. My days flip-flopped as well, with a full 12 hour time difference.

My daily stresses remained stateside as the excitement took hold.

Unsure of what to expect, I dropped all of my pre-conceived notions and embraced Beijing with open arms. This proved fruitful because what the city gave in return was the gorgeous peace and serenity of past emperors’ Summer Palace, the wow-inducing site of the Great Wall, the exquisitely ornate Forbidden City, the humble simplicity of the age old Hutongs, the mouth-watering delicacy of authentic Peking Duck, the local cultural interaction of the Temple of Heaven, the gentle tradition of the Chinese Tea Ceremony, and so much more than I ever imagined.

Initially, I was apprehensive about traveling with 38 other passengers, but ultimately, it was the company of the group that enhanced my tour.

I felt so blessed to have such a great group around me.

Everyone got along wonderfully, and even the quietest and most reserved of the group opened up after the first day or two. The social interaction was joyful and dissolved any apprehensions I had at being so far away from home.

I cannot pick just one feature of the tour as my very favorite.

There were just too many highlights. Beijing has so much history that very little imagination is required. Remnants of its history still stand tall amid the hustle and bustle of the contemporary city. Sections of the ancient city wall are still erect throughout the inner city, majestic and towering alongside rush hour traffic. Ancient drums still beat on the city sidewalks at night, adding rhythm to pedestrian steps. Empirical power still flows through the halls and porticoes of the Forbidden City.

Mountain winds carrying excitement of visitors from distant lands still press through the watch towers of the Great Wall. The intense energy of Tiananmen Square can still be felt as one stares up at the portrait of Mao Zedong. All of these are part of the everyday surroundings for the denizen of Beijing, but are sites to behold in my foreign senses.

My visit truly was an amazing adventure and discovery.

The ancient cobblestone steps that I took, the unlevel stairs that I climbed, the exotic flavors I tasted, and the friendships I forged; every bit was priceless and I would not trade it for anything…

not even all the tea in China.

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posted by Guest Blogger

Collette Vacations

Tags: Beijing, China, Collette Team

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