China

Day 1 (Hong Kong): I went to a market in the morning.  We got there around 10am and it didn’t open until noon, so we just walked around and did some exploring before it opened.   After the market I had a required trip for one of my classes.  We went to a volunteer center that is run by the government.  It had mostly college students who volunteer there, but some high schoolers as well.  They talked to us about their organization.  After that they took us to a lower class home and we got to talk with the family.  It was a family of four and their whole home was the size of most people’s bedrooms back home.  After that they took us to a market to try some traditional Hong Kong food. 

Day 2 (Beijing): In the morning we made our way to the airport to go to Hong Kong to Beijing.  After we landed I headed to Melissa’s (a friend from Minnesota) home in Beijing.  It just so happen that her family from home was visiting her at the same time I was there.  I already knew her some her family from church.  So Melissa, her husband, family, friend and I went out to dinner to this awesome restaurant.  There was a pot of oil in the middle of the table and you put the meats and vegetables in the pot to cook.  After dinner we went out for some ice cream and walked around the area.  It was so great to catch up with her and get her views of living in China.  It was also great to see a familiar face and get a taste of Minnesota for a night :]  After I left their apartment I went to a hotel to meet my group that I would be traveling with the next few days.

Day 3: In the morning we went to the Xiushui Silk Market, which has pretty much anything you could ever need.  Lots of knockoffs, scarves, electronics, etc. We stopped at Subway for lunch.  We were short a little money and a man behind us lent us some.  While my friends were searching for an ATM to get money to pay him back, the guy and I started talking.  He was from Texas and coached the Chinese Olympic basketball team.  How cool, huh! After the market we had a 2 ½ hour bus ride to the Great Wall.  When we arrived we hiked about 6 miles to watch the sunset at the Jinshanling section.  After we hiked back down we had a traditional Chinese dinner at the base of the wall.  We were supposed to sleep on the actual wall, but they just passed a law that people cannot sleep on it, so we slept in tents at the base of the wall.  I thought I had escaped the cold during this trip. L It was around 20 degrees at night.  We managed to make it a fun time nonetheless.  We faced 4 of the tents towards each other in a circle and talked and played games.  At midnight we had a cake for my friend Kelli’s birthday.  After that we shivered ourselves to sleep.

Day 4: At 5am we (about 8 people out of 50) woke up to hike back up the wall to watch sunrise.  It was so beautiful!  After sunrise we went down to the base to have breakfast and then head back to Beijing.  When we got to Beijing we went to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.  For lunch we went to Peking Duck…or had pecking duck, I’m still not sure if that was the name of the restaurant or what we had for lunch? After lunch we went to a drum tower and watched them perform.  After that we got taken on a rickshaw ride around a traditional courtyard neighborhood.  We stopped at a home to talk to a resident.  He was a retired Kung Fu teacher.  His teacher was the same as Jackie Chan’s teacher.  He was such a cool guy to talk to!  After that we went to a tea ceremony.  Soooo good!!  Then we headed back to the hotel and had our night free.  Me and a few friends went searching for some tea to buy.  After we got back we were going to have a birthday dinner for my friend Kelli.  It was freezing out, so instead of going out to dinner we had Pizza Hut delivered and watched Mulan.  It was actually a perfect night for her.  She likes to lay low and said she had a great birthday night. 

Day 5: In the morning we headed to the train station to ride the bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai.  (I think the train is called the magnetic train or something in China and the bullet train in Japan, but it’s the same thing.) It was about a 6 hour ride going 300 km/h, so that took up pretty much my whole day.  When we got back to the ship we dropped our stuff off and then went for a late dinner.

Day 6 (Shanghai): We took our time this morning planning out our time in Shanghai and talking to the ship doctor about what to do in Shanghai, so we didn’t get out until about noon.  We first headed to the bund.  The bund is an area that’s just really cool to see that’s by the water.  It looked like their downtown area.  We just walked around for a while and then headed to an underground market for the people who haven’t gotten souvenirs yet.  After the market we ate a quick dinner and headed to an acrobat show.  It was so cool! It’s crazy what they can do! (Mom, it was similar to the one we went to during Christmas, so you can kind of picture it.)  They even did that thing where there is four guys on motorcycles in the round metal cage.  SO cool to see! After that we went back to a hotel that my friends were staying at.  I skyped my dad for his birthday on my friend’s computer.  You can make a wifi hotspot on a mac so there was three of us using internet from one computer. When I was talking to my dad, we started talking about the Chinese government.  As soon as I said the “C” word it disabled all of our internets.  I just thought that was the craziest thing.  Makes you appreciate our freedom of speech a little more!

Day 7: I had another field trip for one of my classes today.  We went to two temples, the Jade Buddha temple and Longhua temple.  I love going to temples, so I actually had a great time on this field trip.  After it was done 3 girls and I signed out so we could explore the area we were in.  We first went for a quick lunch. I wanted to go to an authentic place for my last meal in China.  They put me in charge of choosing a place to eat.  I chose somewhere that looked authentic, but also looked cleaner compared to most and hoped that they had some Western food for my friends.  They did not.  We had no idea what anything on the menu was.  Luckily, there were some pictures so we just pointed to those and hoped for the best.  I pointed to what I thought was chicken, but when it arrived I was presented with a plate of intestines.  I tried one piece to make sure that’s what it was, and that was in fact what it was.  Needless to say, it was in interesting last meal in China, but I’m glad I get to say I tried something weird during this trip now! After that lovely experience, we just explored the area before heading back to the ship.

Reflection: The culture I think is what hit me most during this trip.  China has a long history and you can see its effects still today.  Talking to many people and getting many different views about their history and culture, I have to say I am a lot more thankful for being from the states.  We may have many flaws to us, but at least we are given a chance to change our flaws.  Many of my thoughts about what I experienced this past week are still stewing in my head right now.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time while in China, it’s just a very different atmosphere and way of life there.  On a small level, one thing I am thankful for is not having to bargain for things at home.  I understand the bargaining for knockoffs, clothes, etc. but I will be happy when I won’t have to bargain for an apple when I return home. :)

 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sail.  Explore. Dream. Discover.”   –Mark Twain