Final Thoughts on China (Humorous version)

Here are some final thoughts on my trip in Top Ten List format. Also find attached, photo of me at the Great Wall with some random family that asked me to be in their picture. Bye China!

Most surprising discoveries about China:
1. Crotchless pants
2. Eggplant is the most delicious vegetable ever
3. Freedom of expression is more open than I thought
4. Access to information is more restricted than I thought
5. Beer in a bag
6. Yogurt in popsicle form
7. Its really easy to get past the Great Firewall
8. Its really hard to climb the Great Wall
9. I love shopping
10. No egg rolls, no fortune cookies, and very little dog on the menu

Things I won’t miss about China:
1. Squatters
2. Smoking everywhere
3. Children using the sidewalk as a bathroom
4. The smells (see previous three items)
5. Crossing the street
6. Being stared at constantly
7. Accidentally ordering 4 of the same dish at restaurants
8. Rock hard beds
9. Overly attentive waitstaff
10. Lack of cheese

Final Thoughts on China (Meaningful version)

I’m sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to London, and thinking about how far I’ve come on this trip.  I grab a snack in an airport restaurant, and as a I eat my sticky rice (silently judging the quality and texture as less than exceptional), with my chopsticks (that I can hold at the very back like a pro) and count out my last few quai, I give a quiet thank you to China in my head. This trip definitely felt less like a vacation and more like an experience, and for that I’m very grateful. I’m going home with so much more knowledge than I had when I arrived, and at least an appreciation, if not yet a complete understanding, of what it means to be Chinese in an incredibly turbulent and significant time in this country. I will watch the news from China with a more critical eye, and notice the changes there with a personal attachment to the people that I’ve met and the places that I’ve seen. So thanks, China, for teaching me so much. I promise that the next time I order an egg roll, I will do so with an appropriately cynical look.

Final Thoughts on China (Journalistically worthy version)

Here are the final thoughts I wrote for class, looking at what I had learned about China. Its not nearly as long as that last story, so if you made it though that one, this one’s a breeze. Also, I wanted to refer you to (or reference) Caitlin’s story about condoms in China. There’s a section that basically delineates how American women are sluttier than Chinese women. Thought some of you readers might appreciate that.

Something is always under construction here.

Here’s a look at the scene in front of the hostel where I’m staying.


Its been under construction for 3 months according to the shop owner down the street (very bad for business, she said, and then talked me into buying some bags). What’s amazing is that enormous trenches and pipe work on a street does not slow anyone down. They just set up little ramps along the side of the trench and you wind your way along, climbing over metal pipes and trying to avoid getting tetanus until you get to the shop you want. It may look like chaos today, but probably in a week there will be a completely new street over all of it. Yesterday morning I walked out of the hostel and there was a huge hole where the front steps used to be, and within a few hours pipes had been installed and the hold refilled. Construction moves insanely fast here it seems like. That being said, its not always thanks to modern conveniences. Most of the work is done by hand or with manual tools. The one power tool I saw employed in this process was this little backhoe that was lifting dirt into a janky wheelbarrow, which was then rolled over to a spot where it could be dumped. I’m not sure how this was more effective than using a shovel, but if China is anything like Texas, then any excuse to use a power tool is a good one I guess.

One more clothing item to envy.

I forgot to post this earlier. These are the fantastic little socks that all the Chinese ladies wear. At first we were laughing at how ugly they were - like miniature panty hose with a cuff - but then Caitlin bought everyone a pair and we wore them to the Terracotta Warriors. Turns out, they are the most comfortable socks ever! And they prevent blisters, and keep your feet from sweating. Damn China, why can’t you export this clever little invention? No worries, I’m exporting them myself.

Last day at the beach.

I’m headed back to Beijing today to spend a few more days before my flight to London. I haven’t gotten in that much beach time because we’ve had some rain, so I got up early to spend the morning on the shore. I think it was the first time I’ve been somewhere in China that actually smells good. It was quite lovely. And of course I got to enjoy some more of the insanity of a China beach, and I would like to share a few of the things that you do not want to miss if you ever visit one:

Water.

Sand.


Face masks.


Sand angels.


Leg lifts.


Push ups.


Buried children.

Chicken.


Weight lifting.


And my personal favorite...smoking while exercising.

Squid on a Stick.

We are staying in a town on the coast, so I felt obligated to try one of the many sea dwelling creatures that they serve grilled on a stick. I think this is squid, and it was pretty tasty. It went well with my favorite yogurt popsicle that I have been buying like a fiend in Qingdao after being deprived of them in Shanghai. China needs to get its popsicle distribution system in order, I can’t be having to search around for these pops.

Monday.

It was raining all day today so we decided to do something indoors. Like a movie! Unfortunately, that meant we had to see Transformers 2. I would have picked almost any other movie over that except for, like, Ice Age 3 in 3D.
Oh wait, that was the only other choice.
So we watched Transformers 2 with Chinese subtitles, and discovered the most interesting thing about Chinese movie theaters: assigned seats! That’s right, you get to choose your seat when you buy a ticket and then your seat number is printed on it. This system would normally not work out for me at all because I’m always late to movies, but since we didn’t know the times before we got there we were insanely early. Best seats in the house for the worst movie I’ve ever seen. Oh well, it was worth it to hear the guy next to us cheering whenever something blew up. That’s my people.

Letter to Beds.

Dear China,
Why are all of your beds so hard? I would very much like to visit the rock quarry where you mine your mattresses from, because I didn’t realize it was possible to create a box spring out of solid stone. There are a few things I won’t miss when I go home, China, and back pain is one of them.

Dreaming of feathertops,
Kelly

I've declared my independence from drinking out of cups.

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Turns out there aren't very many celebrations to attend in China which honor the birth of American independence, but we did eat meat on a stick for breakfast, drank a beer from a bag, and saw one floating paper candle in the sky... which is kind of like a firework? Oh, and as I was sitting here blogging, a nice Chinese couple just gave me a slice of watermelon. Couldn't ask for much more. Hope your day is filled with BBQ, cold beverages, and friends.

Beer by the Bag.

We have discovered the most amazing thing about Qingdao. Beer by the bag. That’s right, because the Tsingdao brewery (its pronounced the same as the city just a different spelling because they were trying out an earlier form of pinyin at the time) is based here, beer is even cheaper and more accessible than other cities we’ve been to. The corner stores take a plastic bag like you get in the produce section, fill it with beer and put a straw in the top. They sell it by weight, and 1 kilo costs about 50 cents. Good lord, the trip may be all down hill from here.

I guess I couldn’t take a picture worth 2000 words.

So here’s my latest story on the class website. Something absurd seems to have happened on this trip…I’ve started using words. So many words in this last story, in fact, that I forgot to take pictures. Totally embarrassing. Luckily Dawn covered my ass with a nice photo she shot. The story is kind of a culmination of a lot of different information I gathered during the trip, and hopefully begins to explain how complex and contradictory China can be.

Plano meets Qingdao

Dear Indian restaurant owner lady,
Thank you for making a delicious chicken curry, and for having the greatest hairdo I have yet to witness in China. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch for both reasons.

Completely in awe,
Kelly

Friday.

We moved into the new hostel today, and its quite an improvement. The AC works, bathroom doesn’t smell (seriously China, you gotta look into the plumbing situation), and there’s a nifty little lounge that serves coffee and beer and has free pool. And best of all, there’s a washing machine. Brilliant. I walked down to the beach this morning to read and people watch. Apparently the beach is much like the public parks where all the athletic seniors go to work out. I saw old men crab walking, making sand angels, playing hacky sack, and generally toning up their tanned little bodies. As Mike commented,”I’ve never seen 70-year-old men that are so cut.” For real. These guys are working it. For an idea of what the scene looks like, you should watch Caitlin’s video from Shanghai. Be sure to factor in the speedos. I'll try to document this in more detail tomorrow.

You know you wish they made these for adults.

I’ve been waiting to blog about this because I wanted more pictures to show you guys, but its been a tougher photo to acquire than I anticipated. Turns out taking pictures of naked children can seem kind of creepy. So in China no one uses diapers (for financial reasons mainly but its gotta help with landfills too). Instead, all the children wear these pants that are split in the front and the back for easy access. The babies are trained to pee on demand when their mothers whistle, so you will see moms holding their babies over a trash can and whistling while the baby goes. The toddlers will drop a squat on the sidewalk and you have to watch out for little turds when you walk around. I’m not saying it’s the most sanitary, but the Pavlovian whistling technique blows my mind, and I can’t get over the little split pants. Maybe its just my uptight Western sensibilities, but I’ve seen a lot more baby junk than I ever needed to. Here’s the best image I’ve been able to get without freaking any parents out. Imagine the same split in the front and you’ve got the look.

Pearl Tower

I went to the Pearl Tower on my first and only visit to a tourist attraction in Shanghai (I’ve been so busy finishing my last story I’ve barely had time to do anything around the city – other than shop of course). It’s just a tall building with a view like a lot of towers in big cities, but the best part was the middle deck that had an open air viewing area with a plexiglass floor. So you’re standing on the deck looking down at the ground thousands of feet below you…pretty trippy. But the best part is watching everyone else walk on the floor. I’m in no position to mock, because I did the same thing, but apparently human nature tells us that if we crouch down and tip toe, this allows us to levitate above the earth with no fear of falling. It looked hilarious to see all these people doing that and holding onto the rail as tight as they could. Worth the price of admission.

Eau de Mildew

So I have been doing most of my clothes washing in the sink here, because there aren’t really laundramats in China. One time Dawn and I took some clothes to get washed at a laundry place but they do it by hand and it costs like $2 per shirt, so we decided that wasn’t the most budget conscious technique. Also, because there are no dryers, all my pants are stretched out to the point of falling off my ass. I’m telling myself I’ve lost weight, but I know that I just need to shrink them in the dryer. A few days ago I washed my clothes and hung them to dry in the bathroom, and turned on the heat lamp thinking “this will dry them faster.” It didn’t. And in fact all it did was create a warm moist environment for the clothes to mildew, so now most of my clothes have a really lovely mildewy scent to them. Who knew that washing machines would be at the top of my list for things I miss?

Beach time!

Sorry for the gap in posting. Its been super busy until now, when Mike and Dawn and I finally got to our next destination….drumroll….the beach! We took an overnight train to Qingdao (pronounced Ching-dow), halfway between Shanghai and Beijing on the eastern coast of China. We thought we might make it to Vietnam on this trip, but it turned out to be too far and too expensive to travel to. The beach will be a nice substitute. We're staying at a hostel that’s really close to the beach, but its not very hostel-ish (i.e. no kitchen, no community spaces to hang out and meet people) so today we scouted out a new place and are moving tomorrow. Hopefully there will be better internet there so I can update with photos and hijinx. I'll attach some backlogged blog posts from Shanghai, and then should be able to catch up by tomorrow. Its crazy to think I’ve already been in China for an entire month. I’m glad for a few days of downtime to process everything I’ve seen and learned, and then I’ll update you all with my brilliant analysis of the culture and country. Good talk.

If combovers are wrong...

…I don’t want to be right. This guy was exercising in the park, and was generous enough to provide this beautiful moment.

Do you like jeans? I am sure. You like it.

I have developed a shopping addiction. Maybe it’s the thrill of the haggle. Or the endless aisles of useless overpriced items. Or perhaps I really enjoy being stalked by aggressive sales people. I don’t know. What I do know is, I can’t stop buying things at the market. The fake mall must have started it, because next Caitlin and I searched out a supposedly cheaper mall in the basement of a metro station. Unfortunately for both of us, our bank’s ATM was in the mall, and ludicrous spending ensued. The next day, we took a short break from working to get some lunch, and somehow in the two blocks between our hotel and the dumpling stand we both managed to buy two more enormous bags of stuff. Seriously, we were gone like ten minutes. I’m already itching to get this blog post done so I can go to another shopping area we read about in Caitlin’s travel book. She was expecting me (usually the budget conscious one) to rein her in, but so far I’ve only made things worse. Here’s a list of a few of the absurd things I’ve purchased thus far.

Two pairs of jeans (“Diesel” and “Seven” brands…check out the label from the Diesel jeans for verification of their authenticity) $29
One “real” leather belt $9
The entire five season box set of Six Feet Under $26
A bag to carry all the stuff I bought (but it’s way too small so I’ll have to buy another one) $6
Two awesome shirts (Jessie, you’ll be proud) $26
Two (why did I need two?) visors with a full coverage face mask $5
One package of ten pairs of socks $0.76
There will no doubt be more before the end of the day. Damn you, China, and your cheap awesome stuff.

Professor Pan tells all

On Wednesday we had a meeting with Professor Pan, a mass communications professor who teaches in Wisconsin but is doing research in China on new media. He is from China but has lived in the US for 25 years, so he had both an outsiders and an insiders perspective on journalism here. He was way more open than anyone we have talked to so far, and gave us the low down on how journalists operate in this country. We already knew that a lot of censorship goes on, mainly by the journalists themselves out of fear of reprisal from the government. In China, the government owns all the media outlets, and informs them about what stories are not okay to write and how to cover certain issues (like the earthquake, for example). But they are really only concerned with political matters that might affect keeping the government in power, so there is more press freedom here than we often think. What we learned from Pan is that another tactic used by the government to maintain media control is to keep the wages of journalists so low that in order to make a living they must supplement their income by taking “donations” from subjects they are covering. Its basically standard practice to bribe journalists into writing good stories about you, and not only does everyone do it, but the general public knows about it and thinks its fairly acceptable. This just blew my mind. I know that corruption is pretty common here, but apparently because other people are so much more corrupt (turns out politicians and teachers are the worst) that the journalists seem mild by comparison. And because everyone does it, as a journalist you are pressured by your co-workers to follow along. We were all wishing that we had gotten to talk to Pan earlier in the trip, because we would have had some serious questions about this to ask of all the journalists we’ve been meeting along the way. Of course, the next day at Fudan University School of Journalism, all the professors told us that practice was “not as common” anymore. But judging by the way they answered all our other questions, I’m pretty skeptical that that’s the last word on the subject. China just continues to teach me things.

Updates

Two new stories posted on the class website! The ones about the Tea Man and the bird walkers.  I know you guys are dying to read them all.

Pictures I wish I had taken - Link is Fixed

The third week's photo gallery is on our class website now, and I think you've already seen the photos of mine in there, but I recommend it for 2 other photos from Caitlin and Mike. I'm not going to spoil the surprise, but I'll just say this: unique sleeping position, and a comb-over surprise. Click through until you find those beauties. 

Climbing the Great Wall….A director’s debut

Caitlin makes her directorial debut with this amazing film from our Great Wall experience. It’s a chronicle of our quest to find the toboggan that would take us back to the bus. You’ll notice the excellent editing as well. 

Want to buy some Uggs lady?

So today I went to an enormous "fake" shopping mall in downtown Shanghai. Its fake because its filled with knock-off everything: jeans, shoes, DVDs, electronics, jewelry, kites, whatever. Its four stories of little merchant kiosks manned by the most aggressive salespeople on earth. Walking down the aisle you are accosted by dozens of sellers saying,"Watches lady? DVD lady? Look at shoes lady?" One person actually mixed it up and called me "chick," which I sort of appreciated. Its the most intense shopping experience I've ever had, but I managed to find a few things I "needed" and haggle my way down to a slightly less ridiculous price than was asked. I'm getting better at the haggle. Still not as good as Dawn. Its pretty standard for the price to go down by about 80% without much effort at all, and then if you're really good you can go lower than that. Anyway, after about an hour of that place I was both amazed and exhausted, so I had to get out. I might try to go back when I'm more rested, or really drunk. 

Bacon Reunion

Dear Bacon,

I have really missed you, dear friend. I'm glad we ran into each other at the Sofa Cafe (yes, it's a cafe with sofas) where they offer a variety of delicious western food options. I want you to know that I never took you for granted, even during our 3 weeks apart. Let's not be strangers, bacon. 

Eternally,

Kelly

Who says they work too hard in China?

Today we went to Shanghai Daily and talked with one of the editorial writers there. He was really candid and insightful about the news industry in his country and ours.  My favorite quote: “2000 years ago China was more open minded than America.” Does that still fall in the category of “older than America,” Peter?

After the newspaper trip, we got back on our tour bus and drove an hour to a car manufacturing plant so we could see a China factory in action. Turns out: they weren’t actually open today. It was a company holiday. So we got to walk through an enormous empty car factory and see some guys mopping the floors. I couldn’t do much but laugh, it was so ridiculous. And sort of par for the course on these group tours. Unbelievable. 

More foods I like.

Seeing as how my previous food post received the most critical acclaim, I thought I would follow with a sequel. Here are some other food items of interest on my trip.

This may not look very tasty, but China has figured out the best way to cook eggplant in the whole world. This is one of my favorite items, and luckily they serve it almost everywhere. Spicy and delicious. I must learn how to cook this for when I get home.

This is one of the many courses I ate at the fancy Japanese restaurant I went to with Tracy. We sat at a big table with a stove built into it and the chef cooked everything for us right there. Salmon, 3 kinds of beef, salad with blueberry dressing (what? it was like a smoothie), and 2 desserts. Awesome.

Tonight Caitlin and Mike and I went to a Thai place (we’re mixing it up in Shanghai…they have every kind of food here). This is what came out when Caitlin ordered coconut juice. Doesn’t get any fresher than that. The best part of the meal was the dessert, which was hot sticky rice with mango ice cream on top that melted as you ate it. I was going to take a picture to show you guys, but I forgot and ate it all.

Shanghaiiiiiiii!!!!!!

We arrived in Shanghai early Sunday morning and were greeted by the oppressive humidity of China’s most international city. Seriously, its like swimming. The city is amazing though, I’m really looking forward to exploring it more. Our hotel is fantastic too, which is quite a relief after the Xi’an stinkfest. We each have two pillows on our beds, and a shower that isn’t on top of the toilet. And for breakfast, they serve toast and jam! I mean, I’m livin’ large here people.  For reals.

I was too tired to do much, but I did walk around the tourist area along the river (see photo, illustrating skyline and smog) and went to a delicious fancy dinner with our professor (more about that in the next post). The neighborhood where we’re staying is kind of an ex-pat area, so there’s a place that supposedly serves bacon for breakfast. I’ll be checking that out tomorrow, and will let you know.

Last few photos from Xi'an

Goodbye and good riddance

So we are finally leaving Xi’an today. I did have some enjoyable and learning experiences here, but I’m very glad to be moving on. I think everyone in the group feels the same. In honor of our departure, Dawn and I came up with a top ten list.

Top Ten Reasons We Hate Xi’an And Are Never Coming Back

10. We’ve never seen the sun.

9. Our hotel room smells like farts (not our own).

8. No egg mcmuffins.

7. Warm beer, cold tea.

6. Taxi drivers have a death wish.

5. Opera singers don’t sing.

4. The only people who aren’t rude work at Starbucks.

3. Yogurt popsicles are not easily accessible.

2. We’re staying between a Walmart and a mall.

1. Too many people, too many cars, too many bellies, too many lugies

We’re headed to the train station for an overnight train to Shanghai, the biggest international city on our trip! Woohoo!

Suddenly, the skies cleared, and we saw...mushrooms.

For our last night in Xi'an we decided to walk around the wall of the city. Most of the major cities in China were built with enormous protective walls around them, and a few are still standing in part or whole. The one in Xi'an wraps around the entire central part of the city, with big gates to allow traffic and pedestrians through. Its about 40 feet wide and made of solid stone, and probably 2-3 stories tall. Massive. We wanted to bike ride around the top but because of the rain they had locked up all the bikes, so we walked. The one advantage of the rain was it had cleared out the smog slightly. It was nearly sunset, so the sky was starting to show some color, and the view from the top was really nice. The first thing I saw when I looked off into the distance was a giant mushroom cloud of pollution belching from a factory on the horizon. A couple in front of us stopped to take each other's pictures. "Look honey! Get a picture of me with that mushroom cloud!" Then behind me I noticed a rainbow peeking out from behind the smog. What the skies in Xi'an lack in beauty they certainly make up for in absurdity. 

Clear gray skies.

Its raining in Xi'an today, which is great for the temperature...it feels like fall! But as Caitlin pointed out to me, we haven't seen the sun since we got here. Gotta love that smog. 

I really do love bacon, in all forms.

We went to the country outside Xi'an yesterday and had lunch with some farmers. The family who cooked for us were raising the cutest little pigs. I just thought you should see this face. 

The Auspicious Smelody of the Operahouse

Last night we went to see the Chinese opera that is playing right across the street from our hotel. It was produced by one of the guys who worked on the opening ceremonies at the Olympics, so we had high hopes. I have to say though, I was pretty glad I didn’t pay for the ticket by the time it was over. The costumes were great, and the set was pretty cool too, but the entire thing was lip-synced. What? And if you’ve never heard a Chinese opera...what's the word here...Piercing? Yes. Shrill? Definitely. 

The best part by far was the translation of the lyrics, which included such gems as,"I walk with minced traits” and use of the word “auspicious” in every context imaginable. One of my favorite things in China are the translations (I've heard them called "Chinglish" and "Engrish" - I can't decide which is funnier) on signs and menus. I’ve included some winners.

If Thundercloud Subs was a church I’d go every day.

Today in a fit of hunger and anger (hanger, if you will) I asked the gods to deliver me a sandwich. An hour later I was eating a slightly soggy mutton filled fried roll which kind of tasted like old tuna fish, and I could only conclude that gods do not appreciate sandwich requests.

Rack 'Em

I don’t know if this is impressive or sad, but tonight was the first time I have been out past 10pm since I got to China. After the amazingness of the opera, Dawn and I decided we would join Rio and Elliott at the pool hall across the street. Pool in China is quite a scene. First of all, the tables are huge and the pockets are tiny, which did not help my already limited billiard skills. The greatest thing though, is that after every game, an attendant runs over (seriously, runs) and racks the pool balls for you with lightning speed. Totally worth the price of admission just to see. Also, there are no drinking laws to speak of in China (i.e. walking the streets with a beer is fine, no age limit) so there were children running around the pool hall playing under the tables. They will probably grow up to be serious pool sharks…but possibly develop lung cancer from second hand smoke. Everything’s a trade off.

They Know Why the Caged Birds Sing

Started the day off with a very early (6 am) trip to the park for a story idea. I tell you what, for a city where breathing the air feels like the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes, Xi’aners sure do take their physical health seriously. By dawn there are literally hundreds of people (mostly seniors) in every park walking, doing tai chi, playing ping pong, swinging on monkey bars, wielding swords…its intense. I stopped by to interview the bird walkers – retired men who take their caged birds out to parks every day for what I could only assume is a walk. Turns out the birds are only an excuse for the men to get some socializing time in. They line up dozens of little cages of screeching birds and hang out for hours talking about…whatever it is that 70-year-old Chinese men talk about. Pretty awesome. And they’re competitive about the birds too. If yours doesn’t sing very well, then your bird has to sit on the ground instead of hang in a tree. But don’t mistake competition for sentimentality. They don’t even name the birds, because they are likely to sell them or give them away at any moment if they stop singing well. It was pretty interesting to learn about. And for real, people take their health a lot more seriously here…you just don’t see fat Chinese folks. Ever. It could be the stress from constantly fearing for your life while driving or walking anywhere keeps you thin, I’m not sure. 

Tuesday - Thankfully nothing to report

Today is the first day on the trip when I actually had no planned activity I had to attend. I slept through the 6:30 am trek to a park to see the morning exercise routines (Dawn went, cause she’s a committed photographer). And then I skipped the group lunch outing to write my story about the Tea Man. So I’ve basically been sitting in Starbucks, using their wireless internet to update my blog, gchat with some awesome peeps, and write on my laptop while watching the insanity of Xi’an pedestrian traffic walk by outside. It might be the best day yet. It was so nice to have a day that was not controlled by anyone else’s schedule and just relax. I’ll be back on my game tomorrow, but this was a much needed respite.
I feel a little guilty that this is such a boring post, so here's a picture of Xi'an traffic out the window of a bus. Its actually crazier than Beijing, which I did not think was possible.

Monday – Terracotta Warriors

The Terracotta Warriors are about an hour outside of Xi’an, and we took a bus there this morning. Such an impressive and amazing thing to see in real life. And they continue to find more of them! – a new excavation started just a few days before.

I do, however, have a suggestion for the museum planners: Don’t label the rooms in chronological order, if that’s not the order that people should walk through them. What if you were to use a labeling system like this –
Pit 3 – “Small dark pit with a few broken warriors”
Pit 2 – “Pit of Boredom”
Pit 1- “Completely awe inspiring pit that will make you question your role in the Universe”

See, if you used a system like that, then I wouldn’t have walked into Pit 1 first, only to be progressively more disappointed by the subsequent pits. Just saying.

Sunday – First Day in Xi’an

We arrived in Xi’an fairly exhausted from the long train ride, but we wanted to check out the city so we headed out for lunch. First thought: We miss Beijing. Xi’an is a huge crowded city, and the part where we are staying is near a shopping district, and apparently people never ever run out of items they need to buy. Walking down the street was like swimming against a current of intense shoppers and merchants bent on selling you fake Gucci glasses. The air is thick with pollution here, way worse than Beijing, and the temperature is about 10 degrees hotter. As you can tell, its my favorite spot so far. To top it off, the room Dawn and I are staying in has a constantly changing foul odor that can only be masked by burning so much incense that my eyes start to water. I’m sure I will find some redeeming qualities of the city, but for now, I’m looking forward to Shanghai.

Letter to the Colonel

Dear Col. Sanders,
Why don’t you think that Americans would enjoy a tasty egg custard tart like you make in China? We, too, are fans of flaky baked goods stuffed with sweet, creamy fillings. I think you’ll find, Colonel, that we’re not so different in the West.

Yours truly,
Kelly

Saturday – Last Day in Beijing

So after spending most of the day working to finish up our class projects, Caitlin and I decided we deserved some pampering. We had seen a ton of little shops offering all variety of spa services, so she chose a pedicure, and I opted for a foot massage. But apparently two weeks of walking around Beijing and hiking the Great Wall had not been kind to my extremities, because when the nice massage man looked at the bottom of my feet, he paused. He looked up at me, looked back at my feet, pointed to me feet and said,”I will help you.” He then proceeded to use some kind of amazing tool that peeled off layers and layers of dead nasty skin from my heels, all the while collecting it in a pile and showing it me as we went along. At this point, the massage was not even necessary because I felt I had already gotten more than my money’s worth out of the experience. Of course I stuck around for the massage anyway, and other than the part where he put some kind of balm on my skin and rubbed it until it felt like my skin was melting off, it was quite lovely. I walked on clean, soft feet all the way to the train station.

Backlogged

Sorry for the delay in the posting...its been busy lately and I'm behind on my blogging. We just arrived in Xi'an this morning (Sunday) after an overnight train ride, so I'll update more on that soon. Thanks for everyone's comments...I love reading them! In the meantime, here's a photo to illustrate China's continued commitment to personal safety. 

Friday – The Tea Man Returns

So I had been hearing about the famous Tea Man from last year’s China students, but somehow I neglected to stop by his shop until today. What a mistake. Mr. Ye specializes in high-end teas, and when Dawn and I walked in he sat us down and began a very ceremonial tea brewing process. He made five different kinds of teas for us to sample, including some that started out as little globes of tea leaves and sprouted into beautiful blooming flowers when soaked in hot water. Like those sponge animals I had as a kid, except cooler, and drinkable. It was the most amazing tea I’ve ever had, and I bought a bunch to bring home, so you can expect to get an invitation to a tea party when I’m back. We found out in the process that his family was moving from their hometown in rural southern China to Beijing after being separated for 2 years while he saved up enough to move them there. When I stopped by later that afternoon I saw him with his two children and a suitcase moving them into the tea shop, and I stayed to take some pictures of them and interview him about their arrival (I’ll let you know when that story posts to the class website). He was so happy to have them there, and even though they will all be sharing one bedroom in the back of his shop, he was really excited for the future. It was a great experience, and I promise that’s not colored at all by the fact that I had 16 cups of highly caffeinated tea while I was there. The Tea Man is awesome.

Judged.

Smoking in China is out of control. As if the air quality isn’t bad enough, people smoke everywhere here. As I was waiting for the elevator today, the door opened and a man walked out smoking a cigarette. I mean the building is only 6 stories, you couldn’t wait until you got downstairs? Really?

Thursday – Slacklining

I have been talking to Rio (one of the interpreters from Beijing) about his interest in slacklining for the past week, and today I finally got to witness the sport. He and his friend Chip can do some really cool tricks on the line: jumps, spins, slides, surfing…it was so much fun to watch. They let me try to stand up the line once too, though, as you can imagine, that didn’t last long. But it was an excellent time. I made a slideshow out of it that you can see here.

Wednesday – The Great Wall

We climbed the Wall of China today! (Sinclair, I think it really hit me today, I'm actually in China!) I can say with absolute certainty that this particular tourist attraction lives up to every expectation. And even exceeds some. The adventure started at the public bathroom at the entrance, which had an enormous line of bullying Chinese ladies. We waited patiently and paid our .50 Yuan (about 7 cents), only to be pushed into the most frantic bathroom situation I’ve ever seen. Just inside the door was a bucket that a few of the more adventurous women were using (no modesty here, girls). Once you were corralled into the room with the actual stalls you could see that the doors had been removed in order to facilitate faster transitions between “customers.” I dropped a squat, and before I had even pulled my pants up a woman was shoving me out the door so she could get in on the action. This was my introduction to the Great Wall, and I was already impressed.

Next we started the climb. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of scaling the Great Wall, let me use one word to describe it: vertical. People were actually pulling themselves up on their hands and knees because it was more like rock climbing than hiking. After about an hour and a half, a lot of panting, many many breaks, and being passed by a couple of old men with canes, we finally made it to the toboggan - our ride back down. Despite our exhaustion, we all agreed that the “hike” (I’m using that term loosely) was totally worth it. The weather was perfect and the skies were clear and the views were spectacular. The one thing that surprised me was how crowded it was the entire way. My image is of an empty, snaking, stone wall, but we were literally getting pushed out of the way by Chinese tourists, some of whom stopped to take their picture with us. My popularity spans continents apparently.

Would that be called a clog?

Our class blog is finally alive and starting to have content. Check it out if you want!

There is nothing I love more in the world than a human circus.

Tonight we went to see one of Beijing’s famous sights: acrobats. It was a most excellent performance filled with amazing human tricks, including ladies that can bend their bodies in completely unnatural ways, and men that can stand on top of each other while catching bowls on their heads and balancing on moving objects. I’m so glad to know that I can travel to the other side of world, and still love the circus. I would have included a photo, but we weren’t allowed to shoot, so hopefully this will give you an idea of what you’re missing. 

Drop it like a squat

I thought everyone should see what the toilet situation is like here. This is one of the worst examples thus far…I mean most of the squatters are at least hooked into a septic system. This one was actually at a government office in a county outside Beijing, and it was just an enormous open pit where all the waste was collected (you can thank me later for not posting that picture). The trick to keeping your ankles dry, as Reno taught me, is to get as far down to the floor as you possibly can. Its sort of like break dancing, but you have to bring your own toilet paper. 

I'm not complaining. Honest.

I really am having an excellent time on this trip so far, and am learning so much about the country. But I have to say just one thing. For the record. 

I hate group tours. 

I sort of knew this already, but after the last two days its become official. There is something so bizarre and disturbing about stepping off a bus with twenty other people and descending on some rural town with cameras and nalgene bottles in tow, and staring at (and being stared at by) an entire community of people who may never have met anyone outside of their country. 

That, and I really hate being on other people's schedules. There. I said it. I feel better. Let's try to move on now. 

Photos from the Boonies