Beijing: Week 11 and Farewell

All good things come to an end, like this cyclist's ride, which ended a moment after when he fell off his bike drunkenly...

My final week was, by all accounts, lovely. I had committed to leaving China and, as such, dedicated my final days to enjoying Beijing as much as possible.

On Monday I was supposed to work at an event but was told I wasn't needed at the last minute, so I took some time to visit the Lama Temple, which had been on my list for weeks. It was an incense-filled visit to, what I think, is the city's prettiest temple with all of its Tibetan influence and its 85-foot tall statue of Maitreya, successor to the Buddha. The Portuguese president was in town for the event I was meant to cover and joined me (well, not really) at the temple for a visit. Check and check.

Beijing: Week 10

One of my favorite images I took in Beijing...

By now it's no secret that I'm out of China, but I still had a few days to enjoy Beijing before I peaced out to the U.S. The entire cultural aspect of living in this city never got old, and I made sure to immerse myself in it as much as possible.

I did one last epic walk past the lakes and through the hutongs, taking advantage of another seriously sunny day. I oriented myself towards the bell and drum towers, some landmarks that were cute enough to explore before doing some shopping at the super touristy Nanluoguxiang hutong.