My time in Beijing is coming to a close rather rapidly.

Over the last few months, I’ve had many adventures that have taken me all over this city. There are two adventures, however, that are quite simply my favorite.

The first was my trip to the Great Wall at the Badaling site. This particular portion of the Great Wall has been restored to make it accessible to foreigners and Chinese people who wish to visit it.

Badaling’s wall stretches over many miles and it would take more than a day to hike the entire thing. The wall alternates between steps and steep, smooth slopes as the ways to travel it. Talk about a leg workout!

My other favorite adventure was an excursion to the city of TianJin. While not in Beijing, it is easily accessed by a half hour ride on a high-speed train. The city is absolutely beautiful.

A former port city for foreign countries after the Opium Wars, TianJin retains a great deal of influence from European and American culture. The architecture represents a meshing of Chinese thought and European design. The bridges that cross the river in the city are each differently designed to reflect a different culture or innovative design.

I have really fallen in love with the city and would return to China just to visit TianJin.