Yonghegong Lamasery Temple

My favourite place in Beijing so far is the Younghegong Lamasery--a temple dedicated to the Tibetan buddhism and the Dalai Lama--situated in the centre of Beijing city. The Yonghegong consists of some fiv main tmples, with two side temples to each main temple. Inbetween the buildings are little courtyards with pine trees, benches, and a sweet smell of the insence offered to Buddha from all the worshippers. The atmosphere was amazingly tranquil as I sat down on a bench with three local women. As we sat there I was browsing the pack of postcards I had bought, with pictures from all th main sights of Bijing. The local women next to me clearly peeked ovr my shoulder, and so we started the possibly weirdest and sweetest conversation I hav ever had.. As neither of us spoke a common language, I pulled out my guidebook which has th handy expression "I don`t speak Chinese" in Chinese. They laughed understandingly and seemed to think it nifty to have a book like that. Then they pointd to "American" and looked at me. I found my little dictionary and the word for Norway--and they all nodded approving, then told all the local police men who had gathered to look at us that I was Norwegian. Someone said "Norway" in English, but noone would admit to it when I asked if anyone spok English... As I started writing my postcards (the three ladies still looking, chattering and peeking at me), I found the word for grandparents, trying to explain what I was doing. The eldest lady nodded very approvingly to my writing postcards to my family--and then they asked to see the card I`d finished, chattering like a whole mad chicken farm at my Latin letters, before they smiled, waved and continued their walk to pray at the next temple.

The rest of my day included a friendly lunch with Chris from South-Kora, whom I met very randomly at a restaurant, and then a long stroll in the Houhai hutong with beers and dinner with Ivan from Serbia/Hungary and his unnamed friend from England--which was all very lovely, but nothing compard to the three ladies..