Beijing Life II
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
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115
207
Trip End
Jul 20, 2014
Beijing, China
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Mentougou District is situated on the west of Beijing with an area of about 1,330 square kilometers. It is composed of eighteen townships and five neighborhood committees with a population of over 270,000. The 98% of the district is a mountainous area with over 100 peaks. It is rich in coal, limestone,and granite reserves. Usually temples are nestled in the mountains, and Mentougou is no exception. There are two famous temples in the district: Jietai Temple and Tanzhe Temple. In this district one can find many well preserved old villages like Cuandixia Village which we visited a couple of weeks ago. Two weeks ago we stopped in Shuanlogxia, not too far away from Cuandixia. We were planning on hiking around the 'xia' or gorge. As we started our trip we came upon a a pig farm with lots of dogs, a sheep, a camel and a horse. And I was in heaven. I ask the two guys who were siting outside drinking beer if I could see the dogs. The said yes but looked worried as they were not sure how the dogs would react. But they were so lovely, a puppy, a pregnat shephard, another young shephard, a mix and another dog on a leash (he was a new dog and the owner leaves him on a leash until he gets used to the area and doesn't run away). All dogs were runing around free. And there were lots of piglets.
The two men invited us for beer and lunch - and that was the end of our hiking adventure. We spent about 3 hours with the family who served us yummy food and we downed one bottle of beer after the other. I had a blast. The men and his wife are from beijing but moved to this area to rise pigs. Their daughter spoke basic english ans is working at the gorge restaurant over the summer. On the way back to the bus station, we stopped at the village where and old lady invited us to check out her guest house. For 15RMB a night, i sure will be back there soon.
Otherwise, life is good. Work and play aplenty. recently visited the Niujie Mosque
in Xuanwu District. And I finally took some pics of my cozy little apartment, so you can see how I live in my little hutong. ;-))
