Summer has arrived. I keep posting that and the next day it gets hotter. Yesterday, walking from the archives (west side of the Forbidden City) to an appointment on Jianguomennei Dajie was akin to hiking through an industrial dryer. The best part? It’s still only May. Welcome to Beijing: God’s own microwave, pass the popcorn.
I’ve worked around some nice scenery. At my first job out of college, I worked for an NGO off of Lafayette Park in Washington DC, kitty-corner to the White House. We’d spend our lunches playing aerobie on the closed section of Pennsylvania Avenue and checking out the protest du jour.
That said…nothing like the Number One Historical Archives in Beijing. If you get bored with research, just look outside the window at the red walls and glazed roofs of the Forbidden City not even 50 yards away. Talk about your basic inspiration.
A couple of interesting essays worth checking out:
The first is by Richard at The Peking Duck. Richard is off in the land of beer and brats, and finds Germany a useful muse for thinking of things China—now if he can just get his iPod working…