It’s morning in Beijing!

Beihai: The "North Lake"

Beijing is a city that rewards repeat visitors. The first time you visit, the scale of the city is overwhelming. From the Tiananmen Square to the Second Ring Road, everything seems to be 10 times bigger than anything you’ve seen before. Add to that the fact that the street names change every few blocks, and a few days in Beijing can make you never want to return. That’s pretty much how I felt after living there for two months last summer. But that would have been a mistake. I’ve been back to Beijing five times since August, and every time, I find something to make me like the city a little more. In November, it was the Xian Lao Man dumpling restaurant. In June, it was a morning visit to Beihai Park.

The park is located just a couple of blocks away from my favorite hostel, so when I woke up ready for a morning run, it was a natural destination. The park was full of Beijingers getting their own morning exercise. As I jogged around the lake, I saw groups doing everything from tai chi to waltzing, with non-exercisers crowded around to watch. Amateur Beijing Opera singers performed in the park’s pavilions. I even passed a few Chinese joggers — a sight never seen in Changsha, where the American fad for running has definitely not caught on. Watch out for people walking backwards, though! This popular form of exercise puts inattentive walkers and runners at risk.

Best of all, when I left the park through the east gate, I was greeted by a bustling street full of food vendors selling all sorts of Chinese breakfast snacks. Walking down the street, I skipped the baozi and you tiao (literally, “oil sticks,” these are long savory donuts, best consumed with soy milk). Finally, a long line tipped me off to the presence of my favorite Chinese breakfast: the humble jian bing. The Chinese equivalent of the breakfast burrito, jian bing are fresh buckwheat crepes filled with egg, a bit of crunchy you tiao, scallions and cilantro, and slathered with spicy sauces. They come off the griddle almost too hot to touch, but I can rarely resist taking my first bite right away. (A glass of soy milk (dou jiang) comes in handy for soothing the burns.)

Strolling back to my hostel, munching on my jian bing, I was utterly relaxed. Ready to face the traffic and the crowds, and, on this particular day, the 14-hour flight back to Newark. If you’ve got the Beijing Blues, a morning walk or run (plus breakfast) in Beihai Park might just be the perfect prescription.

The park charges a small entrance fee (10 RMB during the high season, April to October, and 5 RMB the rest of the year). A single loop around the lake (from the front gate on Wenjin Lu to the West Gate) is about 1.75 miles. A jian bing from a stall outside the East Gate costs 2.5 RMB; a glass of soy milk costs another 1 RMB.

Related posts:

1. Beijing’s Famous Foods
2. Surprising Greenery in Beijing
3. The Etiquette of Morning Alms
4. Review: Beijing Coma
5. Dinner Out: Xian Lao Man, Beijing

Tagged as: Beihai Park, Beijing