...without a plan.

     When I arrived in China, I had nothing more than my hostel booked. People before and during the trip asked me many times why I was going to this country. Tian'anmen Square and the Great Wall. Outside of these two places, I had no idea what to look for. I trusted that the Great Wall was a big enough attraction that I would be able to find my way there once in country. Tian'anmen Square was no further than five or six blocks from my hostel.
     I was fortunate enough to view Tian'anmen on my way to the hostel, as well as several times after that simply because it was on my way to other sites I decided to visit. When checking into my hostel, I immediately noticed a sign behind the counter advertising their "Ancient-Secret Great Wall" tour. I signed up for the next day.
     I was pleased to find that the main descriptions they put on their sign proved to be true. Their tour was simply a bus ride, a twenty-minute explanation of the history of the wall, three hours of free time to explore it, a provided lunch on site, and then a return ride back to the hostel. It was nice to have a tour that did not try to sell anything extra or take you to any shopping sites along the way. Additionally, the part of the wall we went to is between any main tourist sites. This means that we had most of the wall all to ourselves.

     After returning to the hostel, a new friend I had met on the tour and I signed up to see a kung fu show that evening. It was only as we were leaving that I realized that this time the transportation provided was only one way. We ended up having to find our own way back. This took us down many streets we never would have seen otherwise. It gave us the opportunity to see Beijing outside of the attractions that draw so much attention. Three hours after the show ended, we came walking back into our hostel near around 1am.
     It was a good second night in the new country.

     Thinking back to my experiences these first few days and throughout the rest of my time in China, it was the unexpected encounters that stuck with me as the most memorable. It was finding a corner full of old men playing cards in the park. It was discovering a gaggling group of girls chasing some celebrity with their camera phones. It was the smiles of the old ladies on the subway when I gave up a seat for them. It was the excited children playing in the zoo and the happy parents looking after them.
     While I appreciate the history each of the many UNESCO sites provided, it was the moments in between them that portrayed how everyday life looks for the people in China. This was the reason I had come here. It was in the unplanned moments,
     I found purpose.