Come with me on an in-depth journey into China’s dazzling capital city, Beijing. I spent two years of my life teaching English here. Consequently, I’ve learned a few things about what makes this place and its people tick.

Like so many expats who’ve lived here, I’d describe my relationship with Beijing as a love-hate affair. And believe me, in order to survive, you’ve certainly got to take the rough with the smooth. Thankfully, there are many rewards for those with patience, diplomacy, determination and good humour. Some of the city sights are staggering and the food is similarly out of this world. Furthermore, get to know the people one-on-one and you’ll come to see that they’ll do anything for you.

In the end I came away from Beijing with a wealth of knowledge, lessons learned, friends for life, amazing memories, a hatful of stories and no regrets. 

Find top places to visit in Beijing? Check out my travel reports and blogs on:

798 Art District

Beijing Olympic Park

Chaoyang Park

Friends Cafe

Galaxy Soho Mall

How To Ride The Beijing Subway

Lama Temple

Nanluoguxiang

Shangdi

The Forbidden City

The Summer Palace 

Tiananmen Square

You can also read my short stories on life in the Chinese capital:

Noodles & Rice 

Enlightening

The Good, the Bad and the Naughty

The Children & The Witch

Bad Moon Rising

Sub Zero Adventures

Goodness Gracious, Great Wall of China!

Leighton Travels is proud to blog in collaboration with kimchibytes.com