After reading about a European area in Beijing in a magazine called That's, I decided I wanted to go and check it out. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time period because I really love "old" architecture. It doesn't matter if it's European or Chinese, I'm just drawn to the old look. I took the metro - yes, indeed I'm a Beijing metro wiz (which is good for you if you come and visit me because we can very easily get around the city) and decided to go on this walking tour/adventure and find all these ancient buildings. It was a very nice stroll - lovely neighborhood really. The map from the magazine was not very clear, but from what I understand I saw the Belgian, Japanese, French, and British legations. I also saw a Church and the French post office. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to go into the buildings (I did happen to befriend the guard of the Japanese legation who was new on the job and he let me walk around. I also saw the inside of what used to be the French post office because it is now a restaurant). However, I wasn't allowed in the other buildings. I did argue with the guards quite a bit about not being allowed. They finally told me to leave because it is government property. In the future, if you ever try to argue with Chinese guards about trying to see property I recommend you never go alone because they do get quite aggressive and mad and you never know what can happen especially if you are alone. For example, I was taking pictures of one of the houses and this huge guy walked over to me and told me to delete the picture immediately. I told him I did, but I actually saved it. Funny story though, when I checked the image later it was all black. The Chinese mafia is scary :( Even the area is really well protected and the security guards are intimidating, it was really beautiful to walk around and just admire the architecture from the outside. Less than a hundred years ago this was the area where all the foreign diplomats lived and congregated. Can you imagine?
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