Seeing the Leaves of Fall in China

Yesterday we went on a field trip with the foreign experts from Beida (Peking University). It was to Fragrant Hills. This is a park about 40 minutes from our home, so still within the confines of greater Beijing. It has a few ancient temples, a memorial to Sun Yat Sen, (the father of Modern China), and many, many trees with turning leaves. This is a completely Chinese thing to do at this time of year. They have a deep connection with nature. It is almost obligatory to go see the red leaves in the fall. Someone said it is enforced through their literature which has heroes and characters drawing inspiration from the changing seasons. ….and everyone else was feeling the need today. Our large van with about 15 people in it could only get within 20 minutes of the entry to the park. There were literally thousands of people going to see the leaves. There were large groups of middle school and elementary students on school trips with their teachers to see the leaves. Not to mention all the other citizens being led by tour guides leading with flags, as we were being led. Individuals as well.

I nearly always check thoroughly with the field trip planner before I sign up for an outing. I need to know if I will have to walk too much. I neglected that this time. I just wanted to be out and about and also to see some different people. Well, I should have checked. The 20 minute walk to get to the entrance was enough. A kindly Romanian lady who has lived in Beijing for 28 years and knew the park well, took me to the hotel where we were to eat dinner. We had a nice, relaxing time of talking and reading waiting the 3 hours while the others, including Rick, walked up and down the hills and saw the temples and leaves.

We then a had a lovely dinner. There were the usual kong pao chicken, and eggs and rice, etc. There was also the obligatory whole fish staring at us, a duck in pieces with the head adorning the side, and a flat tofu pancake wrap with pork in it. Overall, we had a very good time. Fun to talk to different people: a visiting young lecturer from Poland, an older than us German couple, a Hawaiian/Japanese/Canadian lively lady, a Chinese/American Chinese medicine/computer expert, a Korean literature teacher, etc. Life is good.