Today was my first day of real solo adventuring.

I took the subway (.54 cents for 6 stops) to Tian’anmen Square.

I love the subway.

Naively, I was hopefully that because it was a Monday no one would be at the square. Boy was I wrong.

After Tian’anmen square, I’ll write about my experience at a future date, I explored Zhongshan park. Walking in and by various ornate temples I came across two photographers who asked if they could take a few photos.

We struck up a conversation with the help of Google Translate and I left with a joyful heart.

My first significant positive interaction with friendly strangers!!

I then explored the Imperial Ancestral Temple and decided it was time to grab a bite to eat.

Somewhere in the pointing, Google Translating and smiling I ended up with a weird seaweed and maybe mushroom bao (how did pork turn into seaweed?!) but I ate it anyway.

Feeling a bit unsettled in my stomach I needed some carbs and found some breaded bread that looked great. As soon as I bit into it I was greated by China’s favorite garnish, red bean.

Bamboozled yet again.

After visiting The Monument To The People’s Hero’s I was beginning to feel as tired as my passport case, which had been opened at least 9 times at this point seeing as you have to present it at the various checkpoints when you enter any of the above locations or cross the street in these highly secured areas. They love a good passport check here.

As I was en route to a park to rest I met another solo female traveler.

She owns a restaurant in Ecuador and was on her way to find a Peking duck restaurant.

I decided to help her on her quest and loved getting to hear more of her story.

I’m only three weeks into this year of travel and I already feel like I’ve seen enough temples. I just want to meet more people and have new experiences.