China: 3/29-4/3

I can’t believe how quickly the countries in this portion of the trip have been passing by, it doesn’t even seem real that in two days we get to Japan and then this crazy trip is almost over. Part of me wants to slow everything down and start over but I’m also really excited to come home and see everyone and share all of my experiences and the pictures I wish I could share with people from here! China followed the trend of being completely different from every other port so far, and it was definitely one of the best-organized tours I’ve ever been on.

We had our first day free in Hong Kong, which is one of the coolest cities I’ve ever seen. It sits right on the water, surrounded by mountains and filled with some of the weirdest looking skyscrapers in the world. I definitely understand why they chose to film the new Batman movie there and say it was Gotham City. We spent most of our day in Hong Kong shopping around at a market on crowded and winding city streets and then decided it was a good idea to try to hop on a bus to get to a new destination. Unfortunately, we forgot that none of us spoke Chinese, and ended up on a one hour bus tour of the city. This would have been great, except that we couldn’t understand the announcements about where we were, so we rode the bus unknowingly almost all the way back to our ship, and with the help of some friendly Brits, ended up in a cool shopping area where we finally got some food. We had a great dinner complete with dumpling soup and fried rice, and since we were the only white people in the huge restaurant we felt like we’d found ourselves a very traditional dinner. Full and happy, we wandered the shops for a while and then headed back to the ship to watch Hong Kong’s famous light shows on the skyline. I’m not sure if it was just because it had been built up to be such a big deal or if it was a little lackluster because it was a weekday, but there was definitely a huge crowd on the ship waiting for something spectacular that never happened. Either way, the city lights up in some awesome colors at night and it was cool to see from the docks of the ship. Since we ha a busy few days head of us, we crashed pretty early that night.

In the morning we were picked up by the travel agent and went to the airport. The Hong Kong airport is humongous and beautiful. I made sure everyone in my group of 13 got on their flight (since I was organizing the trip) and then went to check in for my flight, but for some reason wasn’t showing up in the system. I knew I was on a flight about 20 minutes after my friends since I had booked mine before the trip, but what I didn’t realize was that I was on a completely different airline in another terminal! After a quick “see you in Beijing” to my friends, I ran through the airport and made it through the security, customs (since HK is not technically the same country as China) and all the trams through the massive terminal in time to get a quick bite to eat before my flight. Once I got on the plane I passed out immediately because I had taken some decongestants that apparently were not non-drowsy. Once I landed in Beijing I met up with the rest of my friends and our tour guide Vincent, who would soon become one of the most entertaining parts of our trip. Again, we got really lucky to have such an awesome tour guide. We made our way through the city and then to our hotel, which was pretty typical as far as hotels go, minus the fluorescent day-glow lotus tree and paper lanterns in the entranceway. We convinced Vincent (our new best friend) to take us to a cool place for dinner. This was a great decision, since after a half an hour walk we ended up in an area where no one spoke a word of English. Dinner was incredible and after what seemed like a 4 course meal our bill came to about $7 each! For the rest of the night we walked around a large bar area in which every bar had some form of questionable live music performance going on along a river bank. It was a Monday night so things were pretty low key, but we ended up playing the Chinese version of hackeysack with some teenagers in the park.

The next morning was a big day of tours. We went first to Tiennamen Square and the Forbidden City. Honestly I’m really frustrated with our Global Studies course that is suppose to be preparing us with the history of the countries that we are visiting. They didn’t even cover the events that happened in these historical places that are so important to their history. Anyways, it was great to see it and finally learn about it from Vincent. The Forbidden City was so big, I still can’t get over how they built these things so long ago without modern tools. It was really cool to see, but it was also under 30 degrees and windy, and so we were absolutely freezing the entire time walking around. Since I didn’t exactly pack for that kind of weather, we all ended up buying either snow hats with the communist star on them or hats that looked like panda heads. I got a panda, and my ears were certainly grateful. After the Forbidden City we went to the Summer Palace which was gorgeous, I can’t believe people had these huge places to live in just for one season. In the afternoon we went to a giant pearl market. I have to say, going to the markets is certainly one way of experiencing the culture. I was literally chased down 2 aisles, around a corner and grabbed by the wrist by a tiny Chinese girl half my size screaming at me calling me a “cheapo”! I wasn’t exactly pleased, but it was entertaining for sure.

On our second morning in Beijing we got to go see the Olympic Birdcage and the Water Cube. It was so awesome to be standing where all of the athletes were, and I can only imagine what it was like in the Olympic village when all of that craziness was going on. I took a picture of myself doing a handstand in front of the Birdcage which was great and the whole thing was just a fun stop before leaving the city. After that we started the long drive out to the country towards the Great Wall. Before that, we stopped at the Ding Ling hidden tombs, which was a beautiful park that stands above the tombs of emperors of China. We then had a really great lunch at a restaurant Vincent chose and then started our 3 hour drive to the wall. We got there just in time to run out of the van and up the wall (let me tell you, those Chinese soldiers must have been in damn good shape running up and down those stairs they built) in time to watch the sunset over the wall. It was so beautiful, and we were the only ones around. You could see for miles from the top of the wall and it was surrounded by expanses of mountains. I’ve definitely realized that I need to live around mountains and water to be happy. We went back down the wall to grab some dinner nearby and gather our things for the night. Once we got back up on the wall, we were given sleeping bags, little mats, cases of beer and apple juice boxes for our night in the tower under the stars. It was too cold to even reach our hands out of our sleeping bags to grab a drink, so we huddled down for a fairly restless night that was only made worth it by seeing the sunrise over the wall the next morning. It’s also pretty cool to say that I’ve slept on one of the 7 Wonders of the World. I still think it’s funny that a wall built by the Chinese to keep people out if now what draws tourists in.

After a breakfast of odd Chinese imitation hostess snacks, we began our six mile hike of and famous and ancient part of the wall called Simetai. The first couple miles were really tough with sharp inclines of over 200 vertical and unstable steps. By the end the terrain was more rolling and it was a perfect day to hike. It was awesome to get to just take it all in with just 12 other people. We finished the hike in about 2 hours, and then we were rewarded with a zipline that goes off of the wall over a river and down to a little boat that took us to lunch. We had the rest of the afternoon at a market back in Beijing (overwhelming as usual, although I think I’ll probably try to bargain at Bloomingdale’s when I get home) and then got dropped off by Vincent at the train station. Saying goodbye to Vincent was definitely tough, he almost cried when he hugged us all! Then we got on our sleeper train to Shanghai. This was absolutely hilarious. Lisa, JacMac, Nick and I shared a compartment with 2 bunk beds and a tiny little nightstand with a flower on it! It was really cute and way nicer than the one they had taken in India. It was definitely great for my first sleeper train experience. It’s a really cool way to travel. Go to sleeping in Beijing, wake up in Shanghai!

Since we got to Shanghai in the morning, we had time to go back to the ship for a much needed shower before having some time in the city. It was kind of a gloomy day, so it ruined our plans to go to the top of the tallest building in the area for drinks and a view. Instead we went to the French Concession, a little area that was not as cute as we had pictured it but provided a great and much needed non-fried lunch. We spent the rest of the day in a little bustling shopping area just taking in some final sites of China before heading back to the ship.

It is getting tough to only see just a glimpse of all of these countries, and I’m definitely feeling really far from home right now, but the experiences just keep getting better. I’m so glad I traveled with a smaller group of friends instead of the 150 other SASers going on the same trip as one big group. We had an awesome time and I got to travel with some friends who I hadn’t gotten to yet. Everyone on the ship is sick (I’m ok so far, fingers crossed) and really tired, but we’re all pushing through. I’d say we’ll have a rest after Japan, but unfortunately schoolwork really kicks in after that because the professors all try and cram stuff in at the end. I’m a little worried about the current state of Japanese and North Korean relations, but I figure the ship’s administration would not be letting us go if they didn’t think it was safe. Despite all that, I’m focusing on sushi, sake, karaoke and some amazing sights and experiences with our original group of six that started traveling together at the beginning of the trip along with some great new people we’ve met along the way!