Days 30 – 35: China

Like my Japan post, I’ll start by warning you, my friends, that this will be long. However, despite spending three more days in China than I did in Japan, I do not expect this post to be quite as long as last time. This is because I traveled independently in Japan, versus participating in a guided tour through Semester at Sea. And so much of my Japan experience was figuring out travel plans. Anyhow, on to China.


Day 1 - Shanghai

As we did in Japan, Nick and I woke up early to grab breakfast and try to get off the ship ASAP. When we opened our window, we were treated to a breathtaking view of the Shanghai skyline. It is unbelievable how modern the architecture is, and how many buildings there are. The city is literally packed with beautiful, towering skyscrapers. This is because Shanghai is rapidly growing, both in population and in industry. Most experts agree that Shanghai is the future of China. After eating a quick breakfast, Nick and I were ready to explore.

But it should come as no surprise that it took a long time to get off the boat. Though this time I believe the fault lies with Chinese immigration. The administration offered us two possible explanations for their delay. The first of which was because we arrived during the Chinese New Year, and immigration thus may have been understaffed. The second, which seems improbable to me but the administration seemed to think was the likely reason, was some sort of punitive retribution for the Chinese government’s dissatisfaction with President Obama. See, President Obama has agreed to meet with the Dalai Lama, who is a staunch proponent of a Free Tibet. Couple that with the fact that Tibet refused to participate in the Chinese New Year out of protest, and you have an angry authoritative government. While I’m sure the Chinese government is pissed at Obama, it just seems unlikely that they would make a conscious decision to make the SAS ship wait a few hours to clear immigration as a form of revenge.

Reasoning aside, our day started late. Nick and I were going on the SAS Shanghai City Orientation, because we had decided that we only had one day in Shanghai and the tour would allow us to see more than we could on our own. As the day began, though, I began to fear that we were simply going to get quantity over quality. And that is exactly what happened. We were able to see a bunch of cool sites, though we didn’t really get to stay and enjoy them.

We started with a provided lunch, which, unfortunately, was at a restaurant which exclusively serves tour groups. Though at first the restaurant seemed authentic, its Americanization became apparent when the table was served a plate of fries and ketchup.

After lunch, we went to Yu Garden, which is a “fully restored classical Chinese garden with ingeniously mingling pavilions and corridors, small hills and carefully selected and placed rocks, lotus ponds, bridges, winding paths, threes and shrubs” (quote taken from SAS Field Program). I would say that the description is accurate if you take out the adjectives. I mean the garden was cool; the pathways were scenic, the buildings had a nice classical look, and the limestone rocks were well-placed. But the water in the ponds was green, and the trees and shrubs were sparse. If you’ve got one day in Shanghai, as we did, it wasn’t worth the visit.

Then we went through the Old Town Bazaar, located right next to the Garden. This was one of the coolest parts of the day. The Bazaar was absurdly packed with people. I took a great video trying to walk through it. You honestly just move in a mass of people, trying to shove the mass in the direction you’d like to go. But as much as I loved the Bazaar, it was bittersweet because we did not have time to stay there. In hindsight, I wish I’d spend the entire day there. We saw delicious street food, and countless street vendors. I would have loved nothing more than sampling the tasty eats and spending the entire day haggling for trinkets (aside: haggling may just be one of the most fun things ever. I normally hate shopping, but haggling turns it into a sport).

Because of the lost time, we cut out a visit to the Shanghai Bund, which is a famous grand boulevard along the bend of the Huangpu River (paraphrased from SAS Field Program). Then, again due to lost time, those on the trip were forced to make a decision. We could either visit the Jade Buddhist Temple or tour the Shanghai Museum (an art museum). Because we saw numerous temples in Japan, Nick and I decided to tour the art museum. I think we made the right decision. We started with the calligraphy section, which was pretty cool. It showed the historical evolution of calligraphy, but it was not really apparent to the untrained eye. It was still beautiful, though.

Then we moved on to the paintings section, which was quite impressive. It was really neat how early the Chinese learned to incorporate depth into their artwork. Nick and I speculated that it was due to the different emphases different cultures placed on their artwork. China, like many Asian cultures, seemed to focus more on landscape and natural beauty. Western cultures seemed more interested in humans, illustrated by the volume of portraits they produced. The coolest part of the paintings section was to see how, over time, the use of depth got better and better.

Next we looked at the ceramics section, which was my favorite part of the museum. The evolution of this skill was so visually apparent. In only a few hundred years, the Chinese went from oddly-shaped bowls to much-more complex, perfectly round pots. And then ceramics began to increase in size, with more attention being paid to aesthetics (illustrated by the addition of carvings and figures). Finally, color was added, and the pieces were highlighted with impressive, hand-painted finishes.

The final area of the museum we checked out was the statue area. Unfortunately, we had to rush this area before the museum closed. But the statues were pretty cool.

After the museum, we headed to dinner. Again, I was disappointed to see that we were not at an authentic restaurant, but a place for tourists. We were once again served French fries.

After dinner, though, we concluded our tour with the highlight of the day: The Shanghai Acrobatics Show. It was absolutely mind-blowing. While we bussed there, someone asked our tour guide Josh if it was alright to take pictures. He hilariously responded by saying “they will say in both English and Chinese that you cannot take pictures. But Josh says yes.” So I’ll allow the numerous pictures and videos I took to speak for themselves. But I will say that the act, in many ways, was more impressive than the two Cirque du Soleil performances I have seen. Not that the act, as a whole, was better, just different. But leaving the Shanghai performance I was, roughly, equally impressed as I was upon leaving Cirque du Soleil performances. So the show was damn good.

Once we got back to the ship, Nick and I packed up for our six-day adventure to Xi’an and Beijing. Then we went to bed (relatively) early, because we were leaving the ship at 8:30 the next morning.


Day 2 – Xi’an

My day started with an early wake up, as I wanted to shower, eat breakfast, and finish packing. At 8:30, the 98 students on the trip assembled in the Union. Bob, my favorite professor, was leading the trip. That was a most pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, because of the large number of travelers, we were broken up into three groups: A; B; and, yup, you guessed it, smartypants, C. This was a bit of a bummer because I ended up in Group B and Nick in Group C. Because we bussed in our groups, I didn’t end up spending much time with Nick on the trip.

We took a noon flight from Beijing to Xi’an, and landed around 2:30. I had a very productive flight: I caught up on my sketches for art, I worked on the our new song “Epiphany,” and I grabbed an hour or so of shut-eye.

Upon landing in Xi’an, we met our tour guides. Tony would be with us the entire trip, and Jerry would be leading us in Xi’an. Jerry was hysterical because, despite his excellent English, he would continuously, and seemingly randomly, say “hah.”

We then filed into the bus and were driven to the Tang Dynasty Art Museum. The museum was fairly cool, but quite frankly I saw much more impressive artwork the previous day at the Shanghai Museum. The best part of the museum visit was getting lesson in Chinese calligraphy. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it’s quite difficult. After about an hour or so of practice I could make a couple decent characters, but my pace was embarrassingly slow.

After visiting the museum, we checked into our hotel. It was here when I truly realized just how cushy our China trip would be. We were staying at a gorgeous hotel in downtown Xi’an, each room equipped with two queen beds, a flat screen TV (small, yet still expensive), and a bathroom with a nice shower. We relaxed at the hotel for a little while before heading out for a dumpling feast at a famous Xi’an restaurant.

Dinner was delish. All told, it was 18 courses. Each course was a different type of dumpling, so we were allocated 18 dumplings. However, there were girls in our group who couldn’t keep up, so I ended up eating closer to 25 dumplings. Also, they had 24 oz beers for 10 RMB (roughly $1.30 USD), so I had a two of those over the course of the meal.

In addition to being delicious, the meal was quite fun. At my table (among others) was Nate (who I’m sure you all remember from Hawaii go-karting), Kim, Ashley (most beautiful girl in the room), and Wayne, a funny Canadian. We all had a blast talking, eating, and drinking a couple brews together.

After dinner, we decided to hit the town, so to speak. We walked around downtown, and the city was absolutely gorgeous. Because it was the Chinese New Year, the entire city was lit up. Every single tree was densely wrapped with what we Americans would refer to as white or red Christmas lights. The buildings sparkled with bright lights. Throughout the night, the sky was lit up with colorful fireworks. On nearly every street we walked people set off illegal fireworks. And colorful decorations covered the city streets.

Though I left the restaurant with a big group, people slowly separated/dwindled, and I ended up with Nick, Jake, Kim, and this kid named Ian. So the three of us wandered the streets looking for a cool bar or club, and we settled upon a seemingly upscale bar downtown. We each ordered a beer, though these were far more expensive: 50 RMB for a 12 oz bottle. I was lobbying to hit up the bar’s empty dance floor, but before I could convince anyone to join me a local guy took it over singing karaoke. He was really, really good. We decided to stay long enough to sing a song and then take off. But this guy simply would not stop singing.

So Nick, Jake, Kim and I got tired of waiting. We all voiced that we’d like to leave in the next few minutes, which was not met with any resistance from Ian. But then, when we all were like “OK, let’s go” Ian was like “I dunno, man. I’m down to chill here, I’ve got a ways to go on my beer” (Editor’s note: we all ordered only one beer and had been there for 45 minutes. And he had about three sips left). When we asked how long he would be, he said “a while.” Kim, because she has a heart of gold, offered to stay claiming she didn’t care either way. But I decided to avoid Ian for the rest of the trip.

So Nick, Jake and I took off on our own, and were joking about how it was Japan all over again. We walked around and decided to check into another bar, not to drink more but in the hopes of seeing other SAS kids. We found one called Mookey’s which had live music as well as music videos. There were also a few other SAS kids, all of whom were fun to hang out with. The best part, though, were the translated music videos. One translation read (no joke) “Ooooh baby when you’re grinding on me you make me so aroused sexually.” It was a riot. But after twenty minutes or so at the bar, Nick, Jake and I all agreed that we were exhausted and decided to turn in. So we took a cab ride, which totaled about $3 USD, and passed out.


Day 3 – Xi’an

We got an early start (read: 6:45 wake-up call) to go to the Xi’an City Wall. The City Wall was indeed quite cool; it is the largest surviving city wall in the whole of China. Unfortunately, as seemed to be a theme on this trip, we did not have nearly as much time there as I would have liked. As much as I enjoyed seeing and doing so much, I wish we had done fewer things for longer times. I would have loved to rent a bicycle and spend a couple hours biking along the wall, soaking up the sites. But, alas, we stayed at the City Wall for a little less than an hour. So instead of venturing far, we stayed in the central wall area and took funny photos. It was during that time when I did, in retrospect, the most culturally disrespectful thing I have done this entire voyage: I posed for a photo pretending an ancient cannon was my enormous penis. Funny photo, but, in hindsight, probably not something I should have done.

After the City Wall, we went to the Great Mosque. It is the largest and most well-known Mosque in Xi’an. While it was certainly a pretty area, it was also forgettable. In my mind, this is a perfect example of an activity that could have been cut to allow more time for more worthwhile adventures.

Next to the City Wall was a bazaar. Now Tony, our tour guide, warned us not to buy much here. Not that the products were faulty, but instead we were going to have a chance to hit up China’s best market later in the trip. The Pearl Market, located in Beijing, was a fifteen minute walk from our hotel. And our first day in Beijing we were going to have a free afternoon. So Tony advised us to save our shopping for there. I heeded his advice, and avoided temptation in hopes of a huge Beijing shopping/haggling spree. I did haggle with shopkeepers, though (changing my mind when they met my price), but did it just for fun and for practice.

After lunch (where there was another large bazaar but I again avoided temptation), we went to see the Eighth Wonder of the World: The Terra Cotta Warriors Museum. Some 2,000 years ago, Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di ordered the construction of the warriors when he assumed power at 13 years old. An estimated 8,000 warriors were constructed from stone, each 5’10” with unique facial expressions. Though most are foot soldiers, there are also some officers, and even a few horses and chariots. The most incredible part is that the Warriors were unknown until their discovery in 1974. See, the Warriors were completed three years after the Emperor’s death. 300,000 men buried the Warriors in the ground to protect the fallen Emperor’s tomb. But Qin Shi Huang Di’s son ordered that all these men be buried alive with the Warriors as to protect their location. In 1974, peasant farmers found a head of one of the Warriors while digging a well. They were initially fearful that they had unearthed a spirit, when in actuality they had just made the greatest archeological discovery in recent history. As luck would have it, one of those farmers, a man named Mr. Yang, was at the Museum signing autographs in celebration of the Chinese New Year. But to get an autograph you had to buy an expensive guide book. So I just surreptitiously snapped a photo.

Though thousands of Warriors were buried to protect the Emperor’s tomb, you will not see thousands of statues if you visit the museum today. You see hundreds. This is because the Warriors broke into pieces while in the ground. So it is the job of the archeologists not just to find the pieces, but to piece them back together.

So with this history in mind, the Terra Cotta Warriors are truly a sight to see. It is mindboggling to see the detailed construction, done thousands of years ago, and that the Warriors have remained so well preserved. Even more impressive is the fact that they used to be painted with exquisite colors. But they were painted with some element (our tour guide told named it explicitly but I can no longer remember), and when they are re-exposed to oxygen the element is oxidized, and the color disappears in an hour.

The only disappointing thing about the museum is that all the warriors are located in a pit. And visitors do not have access to this pit (unless you’re a big shot like President Bill Clinton, who was photographed along with the Mrs. standing with the Warriors. Screw you, Clinton). From all the photographs I had seen, I really expected to be able to get up close and personal with the Warriors. I was ever so excited to get pictures fighting with them, so it was a bit of a let-down to be so far removed from the figures. Minor disappointment aside, though, the museum was damn cool.

After visiting the museum we went to “volunteer” at the Xi’an Orphanage. These orphans were special, though, in the fact that their parents were not dead but rather incarcerated for life. But traveling there with such a large group was weird. For a valuable community service experience, many more “serve-ees” were needed than “servers.” Instead, there were 98 visitors and some 20 orphans. It was really weird, because we explored the facilities and were basically tourists of an orphanage. I cannot understand for the life of me why this was included on the itinerary.

After a brief rest at the hotel, we went to the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show. This was marvelous, a real highlight of the trip. We were served five courses, including dumplings, sweet chicken, fried shrimp, and tender beef. After dinner, we were treated to a show by the Tang Dynasty Song & Dance Troupe. It was exactly what one would think of if they thought of the quintessential (/stereotypical) Chinese theater experience. It was rich, colorful, and filled with exquisite, traditional outfits. But as I often do, I’m just going to have to let my pictures and video do the talking for me. I’m just not a good enough writer to adequately describe the spectacle.

Upon returning the hotel, I lobbied to go out with friends. Unfortunately for me, my friends were tired. We decided to simply sip a few beers in the hotel and call it a night. To my delight, the convenience store sold 24 oz beers for 3 RMB (less than 50 American cents). And when I returned to the hotel, I learned my roommate Matthew had gotten a good number of attractive girls to hang out in our room for the night. One cute girl, Allyson, seemed to be pretty fond of the ol’ Maxwell. I made a mental note to subsequently spend more time with her on the trip, but it didn’t really happen. It seems as though the option may be there, though, so I’ll try to hang out with her on more on the ship. But that aside aside (ha!), I mentioned everyone was tired, so we all turned in pretty early: 11:30 or so.


Day 4 – Beijing

We had a 10:50 flight to Beijing, and we didn’t do much before then other than eat breakfast. On the flight, I got some much-needed shut-eye. I also got an idea for and began to work on a second song, “How to Pick up a Latin Chick.” It alternates between English and Spanish. I worked on it throughout the trip and, if I do say so myself without somehow seeming like a pretentious jackass, it’s pretty damn funny.

Upon landing, we went to a very mediocre lunch and inexplicably sat for over an hour at the restaurant after finishing the meal. So we didn’t get to the hotel until around 4:00 pm. Now I was really anxious to go out and shop at the Pearl Market, as Tony our tour guide hailed it as one of the best markets in China. Unfortunately, the market, which usually closes at 6:00, closed at 4:00 that day due to the Chinese New Year. At least that’s what Tony told us. We later learned that market did not close until 5:00 that day. And had we not wasted time at lunch, we could have had two hours to shop there.

I was really crushed that the market was closed. This probably surprises people who know me, who know I hate to shop. But, let me remind you that I love cheap, and I love sport even more than cheap. And, as I mentioned earlier, I see haggling as a sport. So I was stoked for shopping, and I had waited to do all my shopping at this market, and then it was suddenly wrenched from my cold, dead hands. Oh woe is me.

The time I wished was spent at the market was not a complete waste, though. There were small victories. We (Nick, Jake, Arthur, and I) checked out a mall, which was expensive and geared for women. BUT, on the basement floor there was a goofy store with quirky items, one of which was a panda beanie. It is warm and hilarious. China hat? Check. Also in the mall we were able to sample the local McDonalds and KFC, which is always fun. Fast food really tastes much better abroad, it has more flavor, not just fat. And after the mall we all got foot massages, which lasted an hour and only cost 88 RMB. I had never gotten a foot massage before, and I loved it. Though it was somewhat painful while it was happening, my feet felt absolutely incredible afterward. The masseuse literally kneaded 21 years of stress out of my foot muscles. It was beautiful.

After our glorious foot massages, Nick and I headed out to the food market with Nate, Jake, and a couple new friends named Arthur and Alexa. Arthur was on Bus B along with Jake, Nate, and me, and it was this evening when I definitely realized I was making a new friend. Arthur is a hilarious dude who is totally in tune with me comedically. Got a heart of gold as well. But the food market was freaking sweet. I tried sea snake, regular snake, centipede, shark, and silk worm. Sea Snake was good, though a tad chewy. Snake tasted like chicken, though it had a bunch of little bones in it (they quickly disintegrated though). Centipede tasted like potato chips. Shark was kink of like jerky: salty and savory. Silk worm was gross; I hated the texture. I was going to try scorpion as well, but it never got around. Apparently it was absolutely delicious, Nick described it as similar to a French fry. The other outrageous food we were served was sheep penis, which was eaten by Nick, Nate, Arthur and Alexa. But Justin and I wouldn’t do it. Too gross, I draw the line at penis. Apparently it was chewy and not that good.

Once we’d tried our exotic food, we returned to our hotel to go out for the evening. We ran into some fellow SASers who had traveled through China Guide, which is a travel company independent from (and cheaper than) Semester at Sea. Though I decided to take the night off, the group bought some drinks and went back to the hotel to consume. As we headed over to the Karaoke bar, it became apparent that Alexa was very, very drunk. Which was odd because no one else seemed too impaired. Before we even purchased some time for Karaoke, Alexa started needing some help. So the group walked her back to the hotel and I, because I’m so strong, carried her the last half block. Which was hilarious in hindsight because the karaoke place was two blocks away. But to celebrate getting her back safely, Nate and I went to the 24-hour pastry place a block away from the hotel before going to bed.


Day 5 – Beijing

After a not-long-enough sleep (this has been a recurrent theme throughout our travels) and breakfast, we headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square, the world’s largest public square, was very impressive. In 1949, Chairman Mao proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. 10 years later, three massive structures were built in only nine months: the National Museum of China, the Tiananmen Square Monument (commemorating those who died in the revolution) and the Chinese Hall of Congress. The other notable aspect is a huge portrait of Chairman Mao gazing over the square. Visiting Tiananmen Square was probably my favorite part of the day, given the historical significance and unbelievable architectural feats. Unfortunately, though, we did not spend nearly as much time there as I would have liked, as we had a lot to do on the day’s itinerary.

Next was the Forbidden City, formerly known as the Imperial Palace, which housed 24 emperors from 1420 until 1924. The palace has 8,706 rooms, which housed an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people on its 170-acre complex, and is surrounded by walls more than 30 feet high. When it was an active palace it was strictly off-limits to ordinary citizens, hence the name.

Because the complex is so massive, we probably spent two hours or so walking through it (and we didn’t even come close to seeing everything). In my most astute opinion, this was not he best way to budget our time. While the Forbidden City was cool, I kind of got the gist of it after seeing the first few courtyards. Then it just got repetitive. Honestly, the most impressive aspect of it was its size. Granted, by walking from courtyard to courtyard to courtyard we gained an appreciation for its size, but considering the fact that we had limited time to visit both Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, I wish we’d been given more time in the Square.

After lunch, we were driven to the Hutong area, a middle-class neighborhood. There, we took a trishaw ride (similar to a rickshaw but towed by bicycle as opposed to by foot) through the area to the home of a local family. For lunch, we were served a home-cooked meal and then were taught how to make dumplings. The meal was incredibly delicious, one of my favorites on the trip. I could definitely get used to home-cooked Chinese food on the reg. Ladies, take note. I am starting to realize I’m going to have to settle down with a woman who is a damn good cook (not to say I won’t cook as well, but the meals she cooks are going to have to be fan-freaking-tastic).

It was also fun to learn how to make dumplings, which were harder to stuff than I thought. Though the dumpling I made turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, it took me over 10 minutes to put together. It was also very cool to see how middle-class people live. The houses were small and packed together, yet cozy. Also, because of China’s strict one-child policy, most families are simply a couple and their child. One interesting (and, in my opinion, authoritative and wrong) aspect of living in China is that it is illegal to own land. All land is owned by the government. People pay to live on the space, basically paying for the home’s physical structure but not the property. In addition, it is illegal to own a home. The most one can do is lease a property for 70 years. Combine that with the fact that housing is absurdly expensive, especially considering the low salaries many families live upon, and you’ve got a big bowl of wrong.

After the trishaw ride back to the bus, we headed to the Bird’s Nest, the most famous structure of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The Bird’s Nest was stunning; in addition to its beauty it has a capacity over 90,000. We were given about a half hour to explore the facility, so I moved at a brisk pace to get to the top of the stadium. On the way up, though, I found that we were high enough to have a great view overlooking the city of Beijing. But there was one problem: the disgusting Beijing pollution, which can be found all over China. But I’ll get to this in the reactions section.

After checking out the Bird’s Nest, we were supposed to get a tour of the Olympic Village. But we were behind on schedule, so we simply headed back for the bus. We also did not visit the Bubble Aquatics Center (nicknamed the Cube) as it was closed for renovation.

On my way back to the bus, I bought my first Chinese trinket from a street vendor. It is made of clear glass with opaque Olympic Rings and an opaque, 3D miniature Bird’s Nest inside. There is also a small light, so it looks best in the dark. But my favorite part was my success haggling: I got it down from 80 RMB to 10.

After the Olympic Village we went to the Silk Factory. I was actually really upset that this was included in the tour, because we cut our visit to the Olympic Village short to visit the Silk Factory. And while it was cool to learn how silk is made (in short, it takes an absurd amount of unfinished silkworm cocoons), it turned out to just be a big sales pitch. Personally, I would have much rather spent all of the time touring the Olympic Village. But that’s what you get when you take a guided trip, you don’t get to make your own schedule.

After the silk factory, we relaxed at the hotel before eating the best meal of the trip: Beijing Duck Dinner at the famous Tangyuan Restaurant. In addition to all the courses that were served, the plates of duck just kept on coming. In all, they must have roasted 10 or 15 ducks for our group. The way to eat this delicious roast duck is by putting it in a mu shu pancake with cucumber, scallions, and plum sauce. I probably ate eight pancakes or so. I left the restaurant very full and very content.

That night, Arthur and I decided to hit the town with my roommate Matthew and his friend Andrea. We went to Beijing’s Bar Street, where we ran into a bunch of SAS kids. The bar was really fun, and the drinks were pretty cheap. But after a few beers and an hour or so at the bar, nearly everyone there started saying “we should go to Club Mix!” which was a dance club nearby. So Arthur and I took a cab with another SAS girl from the bar to the club, but, to our dismay, the rest of the gang at the bar did not follow. And while it was fun to dance there for a while, it was way loud and I was not a huge fan of the music. So after ten minutes or so it wore out its novelty, and Arthur and I just headed back to the hotel.


Day 6 - Beijing

I woke up tired but excited. Today we were going to THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! But first we were going to stop at the Beijing International Kung Fu School. I’m glad we did; the students treated us to an unbelievable show. One guy broke a piece of brittle metal over his head (I took one of the broken halves as a souvenir). Another sliced a ceramic pot with two fingers. A third broke a bamboo staff held by a fellow student by sticking the end into his sternum and pushing forward. The final student had a bamboo staff broken over his back, and then broke another bamboo staff with his arm.

After the show, we were allowed to go up onstage and take photos with the students and with various props. I had a lot of fun doing that with all my friends, we got some real fun pics. Even better, the Kung Fu students were very friendly and personable. They graciously took pictures and did their best to make conversation, despite the fact that none of them was particularly good at English.

After the Kung Fu show, we went a restaurant located really close to where we would be hiking on the Great Wall. The restaurant was awesome; it was almost as if someone forgot to tell the restaurant owners that they owned a restaurant and not a greenhouse. There was a small waterfall inside the restaurant, and one area with plants that literally looked like part of a rainforest (don’t believe me? I have a picture to prove it). So the restaurant was super-cool, but the food, unfortunately, was underwhelming. I left still a bit hungry, which was too bad because I had some serious hiking on THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA to do.

So once everyone had eaten, we took a short bus ride to hike THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. I’ll start with a bit of background on the Wall. The first sections were started some time in the fifth century B.C. when northern Chinese states were fighting against each other. When the empire was unified under Qin Shi Huang Di (remember the Terra Cotta Warriors Emperor? Same dude) in 221 B.C., the various sections of the wall were linked up to protect the empire from the Mongols. Historians estimate that some 300,000 men spent 10 years combining the sections into one. All told, it is around 5,500 miles long.

Upon arrival, I felt sensational giddiness as I was about to walk on THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA (I suppose I’ll get tired of saying it at some point). From the parking lot, we walked through a small bazaar and then took a cable car up to the wall. The cable car ride up was breathtaking. The beautiful stone wall extended in both directions, as far as the eye could see.

When we got to the top, our guides advised us that we had two hours to hike around on the wall. We were going to toboggan down the wall, and the toboggan was located thirty minutes walking to the right of where we entered. Naturally, I decided to go left, trying to hike up an intensely steep grade which I estimated to be about 45 minutes away. I figured the walk would be worth it.

Most of my friends had taken earlier cable cars, so I headed off on my own. I caught up with Kim and Arthur, and we all were down to try to make it up to the peak. As a result, we had to walk at a tiring, brisk pace. And I didn’t get to stop and take as many funny pictures as I would have liked.

Once we began climbing the grade, it became apparent that we had underestimated what we were up against. The climb was long, and the slope was very, very steep. The final 30 feet or so was probably a 60º grade. Kim faded for the last couple hundred feet, so I took her backpack and held her hand to the top.

But all the effort was oh so worth it. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking. While we were up there, I really marveled at the wall’s construction. For starters, the wall is in the middle of nowhere, located in a mountain range. How on earth did they get all that stone out there, especially considering it was over 2,500 years ago? And how did they build such a high wall on such a steep grade? I was beat climbing the slope; I can’t imagine building upon it. Finally, I was blown away by the engineering and design. The wall is so sturdy, has so many militaristically advantageous vantage points and spaces, and has an expertly-conceived drainage system. Despite the fact that snow was still melting on the wall, there was no water; only snow and dry stone. As Nick astutely remarked, “they designed the shit outta this thing.”

Once we made it to the top, we headed back the way we came to catch our toboggan ride down on time. It took an hour or so to get there, and the entire time I just marveled at the view. Like many of the fantastic things I’ve seen thus far, my pictures and videos will have to do the talking for me. I also got a few videos dancing on the wall before I headed down. I’m not sure if I’ll look back in twenty years and think I was hysterical or a complete jackass. We’ll have to see.

To get down the wall back to the parking lot, we took a toboggan ride. This was really sweet. They said no cameras, but I took a first-person video of the ride down. It was actually pretty intense. I thought there would be no way to fall off so I took it pretty quickly. One turn in particular it seemed like I almost flipped off the high side. It was a priceless adrenaline rush, though.

Once we got down, I hit the bazaar on the way to the bus. It was my first chance to actually haggle. And it was so damn fun. I never paid more than 20% of the original price. My best buy was a set of chopsticks with exquisitely detailed, duck-shaped chopstick-holders, bargained down from 400 RMB to 20 (about $3 USD). The bargaining will make my papa happy, and the chopsticks will make my momma happy. So everybody wins.

After dinner, we went to the Beijing Acrobatic Show. The show was really cool, but I wish it was the first show I saw rather than the second. While the production quality was significantly higher (there was exquisite lighting and costuming), the acrobatic feats were not as impressive. It was still a magnificent show, but my mind was not blown in the same way as it was after the Shanghai show. Had I seen the shows in reverse order, I think my mind would have been blown twice.

After the show, we returned to the hotel and I just packed up and went to bed. We had a 3:45 am wake-up call for our flight to Hong Kong, so it seemed like the obvious choice. Many of my fellow travelers, though, decided to go out to the bars. They must have hated themselves in the morning.

And it is here, friends, where I have to issue an apology. I was unable to get in my last two days in Hong Kong, or write up my cultural reactions. I only had two days at Sea before Vietnam, where we arrive tomorrow morning. I had to finish some work to for my art portfolio midterm, and as a result I had less time to work on my journal. But fear not, I have taken notes on my two days in Hong Kong, the second of which was fantastic. We are spending five days in Vietnam, so I’ll have it up in a week at the absolute latest. Then we have 8 days at sea, so I’ll have no problem getting up my entry on my Vietnam travels. Go Team USA!!!