Studying Lakeside

Today I decided to walk to a nearby lake to find a relaxing and exotic place to study. As I walked around the lake near the West Gate I discovered an intricate network of walkways through an extensive park on the Peking University (Beida) Campus.

(West Gate=西门= xi men; pronounced phonetically “she mur” due to the Beijing dialect which has an over-exaggerated adjunction of “R” on the end of many words).

As I walked through the wooded paths, I passed people studying or napping on various benches or in alcoves, under the shade of the draping foliage. I finally settled down upon a rock overlooking one of the lakes near Shaoyuan (my dorm), and I read there for awhile, periodically stopping to appreciate my surroundings.