On the night of April 7th, Xiao Li rushed to the train station right after class and boarded a train to Beijing.
On the morning of April 8th, I finally saw the one I had been longing for day and night at Beijing South Railway Station. I couldn’t stop smiling with happiness.
We took the subway to Tsinghua. Thanks to Xiangming’s treat, we enjoyed suancai fish and Hei Wuzhen — “clever rice” truly lives up to its name. We strolled briefly around the northern part of Tsinghua, took photos at Tsinghua Garden and Lover’s Slope, and wondered why there was only one mandarin duck left in the lotus pond at Jin Chun Garden. We paid our respects at the Foreign Languages Department — Xiao Li’s thesis will surely pass with flying colors.
After leaving Tsinghua, we rushed to catch the suburban train but missed it again. We changed the ticket to depart from Beijing Station instead. Thankfully, we still arrived at UCAS at the scheduled time.
Xiao Li met people she had only seen in videos before, visited a canteen she’d only seen in videos, and even bought something from Manmanjia — a place she’d only ever bought things from for me.
April 10th We got up at 4:30 a.m., walked two kilometers in the dark to school, and discovered that the lights on the clock tower and the Great Wall do turn off. We went up to the observation deck with students from the astronomy institute — I was really worried we wouldn’t see the sunrise because of the clouds. But the sun did not disappoint; it pierced through the clouds — absolutely stunning, and well worth waking up early for.
We initially planned to visit the library after the observation deck, but that damned library doesn’t open until 8 a.m. — no wonder I don’t like going there. We had breakfast at the canteen — surprisingly good — and Xiao Li even got to enjoy the long-missed *炉箅子* (grilled food).
Around 8 a.m., we reached the main gate, boarded a coach heading into the city, and arrived at Palace Museum. Compared to Nanjing Museum, I found the audio guides pretty interesting, though the Palace Museum’s “smart” guide wasn’t that smart — a bit clunky, honestly.
The first part of the Palace felt a bit dull — nothing to see inside the halls, no “glorious splendor” to speak of. But when we reached the East and West Six Palaces, it was Xiao Li’s domain. Years of watching *Empresses in the Palace* weren’t for nothing — she knew everything by heart.
We even tried afternoon tea at the Palace Museum. The lychee and bayberry were tasty, though — officially called... *馥香红梅妃子饮*. I asked Xiao Li if we’d try afternoon tea again — her review: “Not even a dog would eat it.” After that, we continued our palace trek. At every palace, Xiao Li could recite lines from the drama — impressive, truly.
We thought we’d finish the Palace Museum tour by 2 p.m., but ended up staying until 4 p.m., leaving no time to visit Beijing Normal University, which was a shame since Professor Zhu helped us make the campus visit reservation yesterday.
We planned to have a sightseeing bus drop us directly at the subway, but we were left 700 meters away — unbelievable. We chose a home-style restaurant at random for dinner, but as it was nearly time for Xiao Li to leave, she had her food packed right after ordering and went straight to the train station.
In two days, we slept less than 9 hours, walked 60,000 steps — a military-style tour for sure — but every place we explored and everything we did was pure joy. Rest well. Study hard. Miss Xiao Li dearly.