Berkeley Is So Worth It! Let’s Talk Weather & Food! 🌦️🍜

Amid all the voices on iscouraging people from coming to Berkeley, admitting my love for this place feels almost like coming out of the closet… 😅 But with Cal Day approaching and my second year here coming to an end, I must conquer my fear and declare: I LOVE BERKELEY! ❤️🐻 If you’re considering coming here, hear me out! ☁️ Weather & Natural Environment “Blame it on the weather…” If you don’t like the weather somewhere, can you really be happy? As a Chongqing native who lived in LA for three years, Berkeley’s weather is PERFECT to me. It combines everything I love: I love Chongqing’s rain 🌧️, but not the endless gray winter skies. I love LA’s sunshine ☀️, but the monotony bores me. Berkeley? It rains, shines, gets windy, and turns cloudy — all within five hours! It’s delightfully unpredictable 🎢. But not every day is that wild. The climate here is mild — no extreme cold like the East Coast ❄️, nor desert heat like Arizona 🔥. With more rain than SoCal, everything is lush and green 🌿 (sorry LA, you’re a bit too yellow 🏜️). If you love nature, Berkeley is your place. On campus: creeks, redwoods, vast lawns, cherry blossoms that fall like snow in spring 🌸, and tons of squirrels 🐿️. Off campus: countless parks, especially in North Berkeley. Within a few hours’ drive: Yosemite, Mount Shasta 🏔️ — perfect for weekend trips! 🥣 FOOD! Sometimes one bite of Zhang Liang Malatang can feel like redemption… one bite worth ten thousand 🍲✨. We have SO many food options within walking distance from campus: Chinese: Hunan cuisine, malatang, rice rolls, dumplings, ramen Asian: Thai, Japanese, Korean, Indian Middle Eastern: shawarma American: burgers, pizza, fried chicken, hot dogs Hawaiian BBQ… and more! Plus… BOBA EVERYWHERE 🧋! New spots: Chicha San Chen, HeyTea Classics: YiFang, Gongcha, The Alley, TPT, Plantea (my fave!) And even Hui Lau Shan — which you can’t easily find in China anymore! Having this many options near campus is a privilege. Not just compared to rural liberal arts colleges, but even USC and UCLA — Berkeley wins in food density! 🏆 And if you get tired of it after four years? Well… the entire Bay Area is waiting for you! Take BART or drive to SF, San Jose, or San Mateo — and eat your heart out! 🚇🍣 Up next: academics at Cal! 📚💡 #UCBerkeley #CalLife #BayAreaEats #CampusVibes #StudyInTheUS #BerkeleyFood