Introduction
September 29, 2025 — Present
After spending a year in Hefei, I moved to Beijing. I’ll probably be here until I complete my PhD in 2028.
1. Lufeng Mountain
October 31, 2025
This was my first hike in Beijing. Autumn here is truly beautiful, and Lufeng Mountain happens to be the closest one to where I live.
2. Summer Palace
2025-11-15
It was my first time visiting the Summer Palace, and since we went on a Saturday, it was absolutely packed—pretty much just a massive crowd everywhere. After walking around with my girlfriend for about an hour and a half, we were completely overwhelmed and decided to bail. If we stayed any longer, we probably would have been squished into pancakes.
3. Baiwang Mountain
2025-11-29
After learning from our last trip to the Summer Palace, my girlfriend and I decided to explore a more off-the-beaten-path spot in Haidian District this time — way fewer people around.
Compared to the south, winters in the north feel bleak — and that goes for Beijing too. Maybe Dalian or Qingdao would be a bit better. If you didn’t tell me this was Haidian, I’d think we were deep in the countryside.
4. Phoenix Ridge
2026-01-31
Took advantage of the good weather to go hiking. The mountain isn't very tall—around 800m—but it's incredibly steep. Honestly felt more exhausting than climbing a 1000+m mountain. I hiked up via the central route and came down on the north trail.
These stairs were insane—long and steep. Had to stop and rest several times on the way up…
I really don’t get why they used marble for the steps. Add some snow on top and it’s like hiking on ice… Just plain dumb design.
5. Yangtai Mountain
2026-02-23
Yangtai Mountain, Fenghuangling, Jiufeng, and Miaofeng Mountain are all in the same area, in the northwest corner of Haidian District. Their summit elevations are all around 1,200 meters. From Yangtai Mountain, you can keep hiking all the way to Jiufeng or Miaofeng Mountain, but it’s a very long route. I didn’t go that far this time—I only covered about half the route, then turned back and hiked down after reaching Miao’erwa Tea Shed.
6. Shahe Market Fair
2026-04-05
During the Qingming Festival holiday, I came to check out one of Beijing’s market fairs. Shahe is the most famous one in the city, split into two sections, east and west. The west side has all kinds of food and everyday goods—fruit, snacks, secondhand phones, candy, cigarettes, alcohol, you name it. The east side is mainly for pets. The wind in Beijing has been insanely strong these past few days, but that still hasn’t put a dent in people’s enthusiasm for wandering the market... it was absolutely packed.
The last time I bought loose tobacco was 10 years ago when I was in Germany. Hard to believe it’s already been a decade.
The east market is all about pets. There were cats, dogs, mice, birds, rabbits, chickens, ducks, and geese, and the prices were pretty low too. It felt like buying a dog here would be a lot cheaper than getting one from a pet store.
7. Zhongguancun Park
2026-02-23
On the last day of the Qingming holiday, I stopped by the park near my place for a walk, but the wind was just way too strong and everything was dusty. I strolled around for a bit, then headed out.
