After a super wordy last post, we’ll keep it light today with pictures!
I imagine that most tourists come to Beijing to see the few big sites – Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden Palace, the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, and the Great Wall. And maybe in the evenings, they go grab some drinks in the Sanlitun party district. But beyond these must-see attractions lies a Beijing with peaceful, yet lively residential communities. It’s in these communities where all the “life” happens, with all the daily-going-ons and bustle (and laziness) of the day.
I’m really enjoying observing how the locals live in Beijing. Life here is slow and tranquil (though living with my grandma is probably giving me a skewed perspective). Most of these pictures are taken within and around my grandma’s neighborhood, with a few from my explorations around Beijing. I hope through these, you can experience Beijing in a different way.
So what does life in Beijing look like in a small residential community?
The community parks are the hottest social locales for retirees. Every morning, grannies (and gramps!) gather to partake in group dancing activities, tai-chi, or even sword dancing! This is something that can be seen in almost any park in the city and everyone is welcomed to join!
And some parks draw a younger crowd. I think this may be salsa?
Ti jian (踢毽) is also a popular sport, with the literal translation of “kick shuttlecock”. The goal of this sport is to well… kick the shuttlecock (weighted and often decorated with feathers) and keep it in the air for as long as possible by using just the feet. This is mostly played with a group of people, or can be played alone too!
This is actually a competition sport in China (which is kind of funny to me). It’s a lot harder than it looks! I don’t think I can even do 3 in a row.
Most parks also have ping pong tables… the unofficial Chinese national sport. I think it’s a requirement that you must know how to play ping pong to live in China.
my grandma (the one facing us) playing ping pong!
Dancing and sports aside, that’s not all that goes on at parks. Come the afternoon and you’ll see a different kind of activity. You can find dozens of people engaged in intense games of mahjong. I thought they are actually playing with real money, but my mom corrected me and said that they’re retirees passing the time in their leisurely retired life. (And that China cracks down on public gambling now.)
Mahjong is a great game to play to keep the mind sharp and the hands nimble, as well as a chance to socialize and have a few laughs. I’ve lost many evenings (and sometimes whole days) to playing mahjong with my family, though from the comfort of home :).
A fluffy chow chow waiting patiently while his human plays mahjong.
The little community street is lined up with all kinds of shops on the first floor… everything from grocers to butchers to tailors to household items. It’s super convenient to walk down and do all your errands and shopping in just one block. But sadly, the local government is tearing these shops away in order to restore them back to residential units.
Cars parks on the sidewalk because there are too many cars and not enough spaces.
A clothing shop selling winter gear. If I lived here, I’d have such a huge collection of cute winter jackets.
A tiny grocer selling on a tarp:
The dough shop where we buy fresh dumpling wrappers:
A shop selling dates and other dried fruit. Dates are HUGE in China. You’ll see them on the streets and in stores anytime of the year, which is great for me because I LOVE dates. The unit of weight used in China is the jin (斤), which is equal to half a kilogram or roughly 1.1 pounds.
One thing I always find amusing is how people would just hang out their clothes to dry on the street, bras and panties and all!
Meat hanging outside. I think this is lamb. Lamb is a super popular meat in Beijing.
A pretty stray cat who stayed still long enough to pose for a photo:
But stray cats aren’t all you may come across. Here’s a random rooster.
Our favorite breakfast spot in the community. On weekends when we’re lazy to make breakfast, we’ll grab some steamed buns and silk tofu soup from here. This place has been here for forever and is always packed in the mornings. Before I took this picture, all the tables outside were full. And there’s always a small line of to-go orders.
One of the grocers in the community. I like the habit of everyday going out to buy groceries for the day. This way, our food is always fresh!
Our nuts & dried fruit little shack. They make the BEST roasted sunflower seeds here. I’ve been eating them like crazy.
I shall end here with a picture of this chubby dog. Why so sad?!
I hope you enjoyed this peek into local Beijing! I really love the sense of community here and the almost small-town feel, despite Beijing being a humongous city. If it weren’t for the awful smog, it won’t be a bad place to live. :P
Are any of these similar to how your city is like?
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Is it weird that I’m almost jealous of your cozy neighborhood lifestyle with your grandma? (Not jealous of actually having to potentially wear one of those puffy jackets if it gets that cold.) And yes, every time I’m in Asia, I always think how great it would be if I could shop for produce/groceries from roadside vendors and just pick up everything as I need it (rather than piling heavy bags of groceries in my car).
Omg it’s soooo cold right now, and the government heating doesn’t come on until November 15th. But if you ever want to come in Beijing and I’m here too, my grandma already said that any friends are mine are welcomed!
Oh I loved this! It’s just my kind of place and exactly what I want to see when I go places.
I love seeing the local areas too, but so many times when traveling, we may not get to!
You can feel the sense of community through all of your pictures! It seems like people are always out and about, and I love all of the markets too! It always amazes me how people can actually hang their clothes outside to dry! I don’t want other people seeing what my underwear looks like!
I KNOW right?! I don’t want to just wave my bras and panties out in public, but it’s completely normal here and no one cares! I think people here do make sure to spend time outdoors and there are so many community activities to encourage that!
I’d love to try Tai Chi and I love how much people seem to do outdoors. How cold does it get in Beijing in winter though? People seem to wear pretty warm clothing on your pictures, almost as if it’s Norway ;)
It gets really cold in the winter! It hit below 0 a few days ago, but it’s a bit warmer now. But I’m sure Norway is still waaaay colder and stays colder for way longer.
Oh Anna, life there looks just so relaxing! Love the look of all the fruit stalls and food stalls. I’m a big fan of dates too and sunflower seeds and in fact lots of those kinds of seeds are so expensive here otherwise I’d probably buy and eat them a lot more often too! That fluffy chow chow is so adorable!
That’s too bad that they’re so expensive in London… they’re really cheap here and I’m going to bring some with me when I leave! I really like how the elderly have such an active and relaxing life here… I feel like, China, even with all its faults, is a good place for the elderly to live.
Ooooh, I love this snap shots as I got such a great idea of life Beijing, and what a lovely life it looks like! :) I love buying my fruit and veg from the market too, it’s just the best way to start a day (we go every Saturday morning)
And it’s so much more convenient than having to go to a grocery store! We’ll just go to the park or run an errand and pick up groceries on the way!
Thanks so much for sharing this – it’s great to get a little insight into local life there. I love how social it all looks, especially for the older community. I remember very similar early morning exercise and dancing in Vietnam – especially in Hanoi by the lake. Must say my favourite pic is the stray cat… not just because I’m a wandering feline ;)
Ooh that’s cool that they do it in Vietnam too. I love how active the elderly people in China are too and it’s so great that the community supports so many activities for them. I think they must have pretty happy lives!
Really cool to get an inside life a local Beijing live outside the center. I always picture this city to be CRAZY with tons of people running around at all hours of the day, but here in your pictures, there is so much open space and the streets look to almost be empty! It’s so much more peaceful here than I had imagined in my head. Also, I can’t believe people leave their clothes out on the street like that! Aren’t they afraid someone is going to steal them?!
It does get pretty hectic in Beijing because it just seems like that there are no traffic rules and even crossing the street is hard. But I have actually never felt like it’s too crowded (except for special events/occassions of course), especially in the local areas. And I know! It’s so funny that they just hang clothes on the street. Honestly I think there’s nothing worth stealing :P, but I just wouldn’t want people to see my bras and panties!
Enjoyed your snapshots of life in Beijing. I did see a group of people playing ‘kick shuttlecock’ in front of the summer palace entrance and thought it quite difficult to play, though it looked so much fun.
Haha! I’m glad you were able to see that.. it’s a classic Chinese sport!
So cool to see every day life in places known for their tourism! Loved your pictures (especially of the pups!!) #WanderfulWednesday
Love this! Its funny how similar some aspects of your photos are to life in Kunming, China or even more rural areas in Yunnan, despite being so far away and different in other ways.
Thanks! I imagine that a lot of areas in China share a similar culture with similar interests. But I do find it interesting that a lot of these shots look like they could come from more rural places, even though my grandma’s neighborhood is very close to the city center!
It would be so awesome to buy veggies daily – sadly we don’t have such awesome markets that are open when I’m not working. If we did I’d be there all the time! Thanks for this super interesting tour around your neighbourhood. I really enjoy seeing other people’s ‘normal’.
That’s the good thing about working from home! And it’s easy to grocery shop when there are little merchants just a block’s walk away. If I had to drive a car to a grocery store, then I get soooo lazy.