After the weeks of train travel overland from Mongolia to Beijing， I found myself in a sea of very different cultures and traditions. Bit by bit， it became less jarring and more joyful. And a full three weeks into my alleged one-week stay in Beijing， I was having trouble deciding when to leave.

从蒙古国乘火车一路前往北京，历经数周旅程后，我置身于截然不同的恢弘文化与传统之中。初来乍到的不适感慢慢退去，取而代之的是满满的喜悦。我原本只打算在北京停留一周，可整整三周过去，我仍迟迟定不下离开的日期。

I had finally adjusted to the loose ebb and flow of biking around the city. Bikes rule Beijing’s roads the way cats rule its many hutongs： cars cede to you seamlessly， and while they are frustrated， jam packed and immobile， you stream by， buoyed by constant movement.

我终于适应了在这座城市里骑行的悠然节奏。自行车主导北京街道，好似猫儿坐镇胡同：汽车自然而然地为你让路，而当它们郁闷拥堵、寸步难行之际，你却能脚步不停、翩然穿行。

During the day， clouds of bicycles wait at the traffic lights for the perfect moment to sneak across the intersection before the light has turned. And then at night biking around Beijing became otherworldly—a soft October mist descended upon the city， shrouding the horizon in white fuzzy light and the noisy boulevards were ghostlike， almost empty.

白天，成群的自行车在红绿灯前等候，抢在信号灯变绿前的最佳时机溜过十字路口。到了夜晚，骑行在北京的街头则恍如置身幻境。十月的轻柔雾气笼罩全城，将天际线裹进一片朦胧的白光里，往日喧闹的大街此时却异常寂静，几乎见不到人影。

Whizzing by buildings and alleyways， my breath fogging up the chilly night air and heartbeat pounding in my ears， was one of the many highlights of my time in Beijing. To let the city （and its grime and and mist and smog） seep deep into your bloodstream necessarily requires you to bike around incessantly until the chaos and noise and intersection of millions of lives starts to make some sense， starts to meld together into a comprehensive pattern—which is exactly what I did.

骑车掠过一栋栋建筑与一条条小巷，呼出的气息在清冷的夜空中凝结成雾，耳边听闻心跳怦怦作响——这是我在北京这段时光里，诸多精彩瞬间中的一幕。若想让这座城市（连同它的尘埃、轻霭与雾霾）深深渗入你的血脉，就必须不停地骑行穿梭，直到数百万生命的混乱、喧嚣和交集渐渐显露出某种秩序，并融合成一幅和谐的图景——而我正是这么做的。

When I planned my tentative itinerary， previous travelers always asked me where the “vacation in the vacation” would be. My unexpected 3-week stay in China’s capital was the perfect time to unwind， eat astoundingly well （with the extra pounds to prove it！） and meet a slew of fantastic， multifaceted people. I had initially planned on a 5-day stay， but 5 days bled into a week and then two and finally I forced myself to leave to meet my friend Jared in Thailand before my visa ran out. Falling under Beijing’s spell seems par for the course： when asked when they had arrived in the city， most expats answered “well， I visited here 3 years ago and haven’t left since.”

当初暂定行程规划时，之前结识的旅人总问我，在哪里才能真正地“度假”。而我在中国首都北京意外停留的三周，成了绝佳的放松时机。我不仅吃得无比尽兴（增加的体重就是最好的证明！），还结识了一群出类拔萃、多才多艺的人。