The Summer Palace - Photo by Jabari Bell
In Shanghai, I was caught in a typhoon. It wasn’t just pouring uncontrollably. It was pouring sideways and up my behind. Umbrellas and raincoats were rendered useless. Students were advised to stay in their rooms. Windows were to be shut tight. Bottled water and cup noodles weren’t the only things flying off the shelf. Trees, bikes, garbage cans and random objects ran down the streets like they had feet. I thought, “Wow, I get to be in a typhoon!” But I wasn’t so excited when my room started to sway. I was on the 16th floor. Luckily, I survived. (It really wasn’t that bad.)
In Beijing, while we were on our way to The Summer Palace, our cab driver told us that it was the coldest day in the past ten years. Don’t I just have the greatest timing for impeccable weather? Well, at least it makes for great memories. It was a day of furious intensity. The cold cut through my bones like butter. I might as well have went naked. When the wind blew, it threw my arms and head back. And my lungs? It was like someone shoved a fire extinguisher down my throat. Inhaling the icy wind made it hard to breathe. I wasn’t climbing a mountain or trekking up The Great Wall but I was gasping for air just by walking against the wind. I hope heaven isn’t really this cold.
As JC, Jabari and I walked through the complex, we realized we were being such big babies. Locals were fishing in the frozen water with their bare hands. A grandpa was jogging in shorts and a T-shirt like it was a spring morning in Central Park. We hung our heads in shame. Seeing that shut us up for a little. Then the wind picked up and we went back to being babies.
It was a little ironic that we went to the Summer Palace on the coldest winter day in Beijing. The emperors of China preferred to spend their summer days in the airy, lush gardens of the Summer Palace instead of being cooped up in the walls of the Forbidden City. The architecture of The Summer Palace is s a harmonious balance between the nature of its surrounding, like the mountains and lakes, with a marble boat, bridges, pavilions and palaces.
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