A Spontaneous Trip to Beijing

On Saturday evening in Cuiwen Tower I heard piano music. I looked up at the moon and somehow thought of Beijing. Opened Ctrip, checked same-night tickets—still available. Let’s go.

Hard sleeper: adequate but not restful. Changed trains at Shenyang North at 3:30 in the morning. The transfer hall at 3:30 AM is a special kind of bleak. Bought instant noodles—not hungry, just cold.

Peking University first: ate at the Jiayuan Canteen, which was noticeably better than JLU’s food. Walked the lakeside paths, passed the Edgar Snow memorial. What struck me was that no one in the cafeteria was coding. At JLU, the engineering students code through meals as a matter of course; here, people were just eating and talking. I’m not sure what to make of that.

Renmin University: compact but visibly wealthy. The teaching buildings are genuine skyscrapers. A friend, Yang, took us to get milk tea—the good kind, which JLU’s surrounding area cannot reliably provide. We chased pigeons in a courtyard. The pigeons at RUC are noticeably fatter than at JLU; they have learned to expect to be fed.

Tsinghua: getting a visitor permit required going to the CS department first. The IC department was faster. We toured the grounds—the Two-School Gate, the Shuimu Qinghua garden area—and paid our respects at the memorial for a certain someone whom the students here call the racing god. The memorial was small and quietly maintained.

Dinner was Sichuan-style spiced beef, very good. A friend, th, had finally submitted their paper that afternoon and joined us for dinner in visible relief.

The next morning, getting a taxi in Zhongguancun was a nightmare. The app kept routing drivers to the wrong entrance. We nearly missed the high-speed rail. We didn’t, but it was close.