Just minutes ago.
Everything moving back and forth - slow motion. First thought; getting dressed, running, the way out like a little movie in my mind, it is too long, …
Then, it is already over.

My first earthquake.

Time: 03:56:27 AM UTC
Location: Beijing-Hebei Border Region, China ( 39.11N, 116.22E )
Magnitude: 4.9

Source: MyForecast - Weather for your world.

最后书法课. zuì hoù shū fă kè. Last Calligraphy Class.

The calligraphy class I had attended over the past months is just one of those “once in a lifetime” things.
Every Friday afternoon crammed in the living room/studio of a Chinese artist, teaching calligraphy and all kinds of other arts.

I really do not have the words to describe it.
It was just … great. I shall miss it.

Some of my practice sheets.

The teacher gave me my last homework (thus fancy) - a Chinese proverb.

Got up this morning after late studying last night. All I needed was a nice shower to start this day and get myself ready for the upcoming listening comprehension exam, the first of my three final exams.

Well. No hot water.

Instead I dived into coffee and chocolate. That should do the job, I figured.

The exam actually went surprisingly well. Except pinyin dictation, of course. Ha.
The quality of the tape (!) was complete ****, as always. At first it did not work at all, so we started ten minutes late. Strange knocking sounds on the tape and an accompanying echo added some flavour to the exam. Even though the echo enables you to hear everything twice, it does not help. Believe me. Then halfway through, the tape all of a sudden started to run on triple speed. It was a good laugh, but did not help concentration; at all. After ten minutes, a new tape had arrived and we made it through to the end. Wow.

On the way home. FULL STOP. A new sensation.

My bike came to an abrupt stop, without using my shoes to brake. What had happened?
I will let the pictures explain.
Just one thing. I was so mad, I actually managed to tear the **** right off my bike. Ha.

Maybe it is a sign. My time in Beijing has come to an end. I do not at all realize that I will leave next week. Leave all of this behind - no way.
It has become my life.
There are still so many things I want to see and do here in Beijing, so many things I need to organize, so many things I need to think about. I do not even know yet, where I will go next week.

I am not ready.
Not ready to say bye. Say bye to my friends, say bye to Planet Beijing.

Mhm. That is Chinese. Study. Study. Study.

Yep. That is it. Wow. It really does a fantastic breaking job. Uha.

After my little fit.

After being woken up by massive, let me tell you .- MASSIVE construction noise Saturday morning, I went down to the lobby in order to find out what was going on. I was told that .- OH construction (renovating) had started a bit earlier. Ha.
A new room had been reserved for me in building No. 2, which they had just finished remodelling. I should move by Monday the latest. That in combination with the early morning construction noise was basically their way of saying: MOVE. NOW !!!

So I did.
5th floor. It is a pain. But hey - we have digital keycards. Ha.

I went back today to check on the state of things. Wow.

Ehm. Good thing I moved.

The hallway. Nice.

South Korea - Switzerland.

Shall go down the road to good old WuDaoKou to see the match with both Korean and Swiss friends. I will certainly be in the minority, as WuDaoKou is Beijing’s KoreaTown. Tens of thousands of Korean students and expatriates live there. If it all goes wrong for Korea, I might just be safer turning my Swiss t-shirt inside out making it plain red - just like immensely patriotic Seoul’s streets these days.

nevertheless, of course, …. GO SWITZERLAND !!! OLE OLE OLE !!!

Oh. By the way. The hair is gone!

Pictures all taken within minutes at QIANMEN Hutongs.

On the way to university in the morning.

ZHI XIN XI LU. The street I live on.

Some local stores and restaurants towards university.

(View) from an intersection.

CHENG FU LU. The street BLCU is on. Up the road is WU DAO KOU subway station - technically.

And. Keep in mind. THIS IS NOT FOG.

Just paid my last internet bill.
People book return flights, start to talk about home and about their next steps in that long life.
My days here in Beijing start to come to an end; slowly but surely.

It feels like I have lived here for a very long time.

This place is so familiar.
This place is home.

北京. běi jīng. BEIJING.

    ever-changing      never sleeps      city of contrasts     congested      extremely vibrant           vast      rich in culture and history      full of life      city of hope      capital

It is one of those fascinating places no one can ever fully understand. You need to be here.

‘Planet Beijing’. That is what it is.

I was feeling relieved too early.

Sunday, while travelling in Henan province, I had another relapse. It again went up to the point, where I could not even keep water in my system and thus completely dehydrated. After I arrived in Beijing early Monday morning, I decided to finally go see a doctor. The diagnosis was acute enteritis coming close to being chronic.
Good thing, I went.
After a three hour infusion of antibiotics and hydrating solution at the hospital, I was dead tired and went home to sleep. I am now taking more antibiotics and medicine against diarrhea.

I am exhausted.

Besides that, my weekend trip was great. Fantastic weather and some amazing places. See the pictures.

Other than sleeping a lot and not going to class a lot, I am trying to prepare my trips in summer a little bit. It is rather difficult, because there is such an endless choice of amazing places to go to in China. I simply do not have time to visit them all. While checking on trains, flights, and places to go, I realized something:

Since I am in China I have already travelled more than 7000 km on just 3 weekends and one 5 days trip. Amazing, no?

Henan province.

Martial Arts students training on the grounds of Shaolin Temple.

Inside the temple itself.

Forest of Pagodas. Gravesite for Shaolin Monks.

At Luoyang Longmen Caves, UNESCO World Heritage.

Waking up in Zhengzhou, another of those Chinese Cities. Population: A good six million.

Really now?

Visiting the Yellow River with a hovercraft boat. James Bond feeling.

. - Tuesday, I finally got over my digestive problems, after a really rough week and a rather horrible relapse on Saturday. I am both extremely relieved and a bit exhausted.

. - Sunday, I saw
达芬奇密码. dā fēn jī mì mă. The Da Vinci Code.
in the local
五道口工人俱乐部. wŭ dào kǒu gōng rén jù lè bù. Wu Dao Kou Worker’s Club Cinema.
That was quite an experience, as it was all in Chinese; no subtitles. Imagine Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou speaking Mandarin.

. - Tomorrow night, I will attend an AFS night at the Beijing University for Foreign Affairs. Each of the exchange students will present their own country. They have lived here in Beijing since last August and lots of stories to tell. - Memories.

. - Friday night, I will leave Beijing on a overnight train to visit Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang and the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province. I will be back Monday morning.

. - With temperatures up to 32 degrees it feels like summer here. Unfortunately humidity starts to kick in, too.

. - And last but certainly not least: Today in class: “罗纳尔多. luó nà’ ěr duō. Ronaldo, a famous Brazilian football player.” Ha.