China sure has one great wall

China was the longest port yet and we are definitely feeling it right now as we are leaving Shanghai. The first city we were in was Hong Kong, which was absolutely amazing. One of the first buildings I saw when I looked outside was the skyscraper from the newest Batman movie, Dark Knight, CRAZY! We were actually in a port with a really expensive mall, where I definitely did not buy anything, so we had to walk through it to find out taxi to get to the Stanley Market on Hong Kong Island. This market was nice but seemed expensive to us, especially in comparison with a lot of the other port markets we had been to. The waterfront area was really swank so we avoided that as soon as we got there. We got lunch at a little local cafe on a side street which was OK in general but not amazing. Both my roommate Megan and myself were instructed on how to hold our chopsticks correctly, apparently we needed more leverage. We picked up just a few souvenirs and then caught another taxi to Victoria's Peak, but we slept through most of the ride there because we were so exhausted from Vietnam just 2 days prior. Once we got there we ran into some friends and realized that our taxi driver had taken us all the way to the top and not just to where we picked up the trolley. At the top there was actually another mall, something I've found in Asia is that there are malls everywhere, and one could go outside to see the views of the city. It was really neat but it was a little cloudy so we couldn't see everything. We took the tram down and saw a lot more, but it was pretty scary because we had to stand and the trolley was nearly going at a 45 degree angle down the hill! We gradually walked through the main area until we reached the Star Ferry which took us across to Kowloon where our ship was docked. On the way we actually ran into a protest for Nepalese rights, apparently protests are really common in Hong Kong and basically illegal on the main land. For dinner we did get some Italian at a Spaghetti house but we had to run back to the shore so we could see the skyline light show at night. It was alright but it was more impressive just seeing the whole skyline lit up than anything else. The rugby worlds' last game was going on that day so afterwards there were a ton of crazy, loud and huge guys running around so needless to say Hong Kong was pretty crazy later on but we had a good time.

Megan and I had to catch a quick breakfast the next morning before leaving for our University stays in Beijing via SAS. Security in the airports took forever and we were really hungry once we got through so I picked up some decent dumplings before boarding. I really didn't need to though because they fed us a full meal on the plane, including Haagen Daz (sp?)! Once in Beijing we had to wait a while for our Bus because we weren't sure if everyone had made it but they took us straight to a Peking Duck dinner which was pretty good but the start to our 3 square meals a day of Chinese food. We checked into the guest which actually wasn't at Tsinghua University, where we were supposed to be, but at the Beijing School of Technology and Engineering's guest house. This was definitely different from my other SAS trips because it wasn't nearly as swank, but it was definitely something I would be used to if I had done the trip on my own! Some friends and I were really hungry still so we went to go find some desert, but when we finally found a restaurant they couldn't understand just wanting desert and the items weren't exactly what we were looking for. Not to mention the fact that in Hong Kong almost everyone spoke English and on the mainland we found that it was rare that people recognized a lot of American culture and definitely did not speak any English, even at the hotels. They closed while we were still there so we walked down the street and some of us picked up fruit there. We got directions to a coffee shop and got some, which we didn't need that late, but it was delicious and almost completely empty because it was a Monday night. We had difficulty finding much to do in Beijing at night so I hung out in the room watching "Something's Gotta Give" with my roommate that night.

We woke up for breakfast which was strange because they served us regular Chinese food, like pot stickers and fried rice for breakfast with no other breakfast foods. We drove an hour before arriving at the GREAT WALL which was sweet. We hiked all the way to the top on the stairs, but unfortunately they didn't have the slide things that we saw on the Olympics from the summer at our point of the wall. The funny thing was that there were probably 80 year old women smoking and still making it up the hike for the wall which was astounding. They even had tourist shops for souvenirs at the breaks in the wall. We did a circle down around and through the rest of the souvenir mart before we finally found our bus. Lunch was actually very good, better than the duck I though, because of all of the different chicken dishes. The afternoon stop was the Summer Palace where we had 2 guides but their microphones were really scratchy so it was hard to hear if you were far away. We saw a lot of gardens which were mainly dedicated to the Emperor's mother and got to walk down this neat covered path around a lake. Almost all of the Chinese architecture that I experienced had been rebuilt after fires several times. This is because they are made out of wood and then painted and carved intricately, but they definitely do not last as long. I decided to hike up the hill to see the actual temple on the top of the hill overlooking the lake and see the huge golden Buddha but I got lost from my group that I went with so I had a minor freakout when no one was at the gate we were supposed to meet at at the correct time. They had gotten lost and gone to the wrong gate and I was definitely very nervous until I found some SASers that I recognized. Probably one of the scarier moments of the trip for me, but I was fine overall. That night we finally got to go see Tsinghua University for a tour and hung out with some of the students as they gave us a tour of their buildings and some of the dorm rooms. We got to eat a meal in their canteen which was probably my favorite meal of the entire trip. This is really funny because it was also probably the cheapest at around 10 Yuan, for a conversion that is a little over $1.50 for a buffet dinner that was really good. The students were really sweet but we didn't get to spend too much time with them, they are definitely bright. Most of them are science or engineering majors of some form and a lot of them plan on doing their Masters at American schools like MIT, pretty smart! They took us to their gift shop for sweatshirts that were the same number price as they would be in the States, but instead of dollars it was yuan making it dirt cheap for University gear. They didn't have too many options though. We went back to the hotel after that and got changed before heading out to find some internet. I wanted to check my registration after Dane had done it earlier so I finished it all on the internet cafes, but I will say that I have never seen so much World of Warcraft or other games in one internet cafe before! We were once again exhausted after climbing the wall that day so we just watched the second Zorro movie and then passed out.

Breakfast was the same thing the next day so we ran to a KFC, which I saw more often around the world than any McDonald's, to get some hot chocolate before seeing Tienanmen Square. They were obviously hawkers spellings things there but we just walked through it to get to the Forbidden City because we didn't really spend too much time there. The Forbidden City just kept going and going, but we unfortunately did not have guides with us which was a major letdown for this sight. We just read the English signs and wandered around it. It was similar architecture as the Summer Palace, at least in my mind, and I couldn't tell any major differences. We then got another Chinese lunch at a place where they wore traditional dress for tourists basically. Fairly tasty, but still not as good as Tsinghua's food. In the afternoon we visited the Temple of Heaven which started off with a white platform structure and then continued onto the famous actual temple of Heaven and the Temple for Good Harvest. We wandered for a bi with some direction from our guides who were from the University before being taken to a Pearl Market. This did not just sell Pearls but all the fake purses and other items you could imagine. I picked up a couple items there, but I did not enjoy how mean they were to a lot of people. They were very rude by American standards but I guess it is different in other cultures. There is basically no personal space and touching and pulling is completely allowed. I got very upset with one woman who was trying to rip my friend off and wouldn't leave me alone after I tried to help, long story short I did not enjoy this market very much. We got to go to the Acrobatic show after that which was amazing. It was very similar to the Cirque de Soliel shows I had seen in Vegas while I competed with IAD in high school in its degree of difficulty, awesome presence and overall skill. After this we were told to get something to eat on our own so we got Subway, we've been craving, trust me, and then went shopping at the second market called the Silk Market. The people were much friendlier and did not invade your personal space as much as the previous market. After being all shopped out we definitely just relaxed for a bit.

I had lost my last breakfast card so Rachel stole me a couple of dumplings before we checked out and headed off for our last couple of sites in Beijing. The first stop was the Beijing Zoo to see the Giant Pandas, which I obviously loved. We didn't get to see too much else of the zoo but it was still neat, I got to see a peacock as well! Lunch was alright but at this point we were starting to tire of the Chinese food for most of our meals. In the afternoon they took us to the Olympic center to see the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. The Bird's Nest actually seemed smaller to me than the Carrier Dome for SU but I honestly wouldn't know the exact different. It was still really neat, but very touristy now, no athletes actually competing or even practicing there now. We explored the Bird's Nest for a while before trying to get tickets to see the inside of the Watter Cube. In both of these buildings they were showing highlights from the games which was really neat. I bet we probably could've just watched those videos for hours. It was really neat to actually be in all of these places for competition and I was definitely excited, although we almost were late getting back so we had to run a good portion of the way back. We went to one last market before catching our plane to Shanghai to meet up with the ship that had gone from Hong Kong to Shanghai. I actually got to grab some Coldstone ice cream before we left too which was definitely awesome. On the way back we flew in the largest airplane I have ever been on with 1 seats across, double decker and 3 long rows of seats. We didn't get back to the ship until midnight so we just unpacked showered and went to bed to wake up early the next morning to go explore Shanghai.

I got breakfast on the ship with Megan and Scott and had the longest line I have ever seen there wrapping around almost the whole dining area. It was really good to get normal breakfast foods though. We decided to try to find a large hotel that could direct us and write directions in Chinese for a taxi cab driver for our various stops for the day. Once there we found a Starbucks where you can normally count on someone speaking English. They gave us directions to the Ritz Carlton where they got us a taxi so that I could pick up my Japan Rail Pass. We managed to find some other SAS girls to split the cab there as well because they needed the same thing, seeing as how it was the last day in port before we actually arrive in Japan. After the Rail pass we used our Chinese directions for a taxi to take us to the Old Town Market. Here our friend Scott finally got his Chinese checker board and I picked up stamps to send my postcards and letters. I promise you Dad that I looked for music to do Tai Chi to, but most of the time when I asked them they just laughed at me so I was definitely not successful. Sorry again, I swear I tried! We got a taxi back to the ship so I could send off my mail quickly. We then caught the SAS trip to the Children's Palace in Shanghai, for free I will add. Our guide explained a lot of the different areas of Shanghai as we drove through them, like the Bund and the People's Square. Once we got there we had a tour of the different classrooms for piano, violin and other instruments, art and of course the dance studio. The Children's Palace is an after school program provided by the government for children age 4 or 5 through high school to develop certain skills every day. It is basically all the lessons you ever had as a child in one after school enrichment like program. These kids were seriously talented too! We saw a lot of their artwork and ever saw a musical performance one two different Chinese instruments that looked incredibly difficult to play. They also performed a dance for us in their ballet attire that was similar to all of the younger child dances they perform for competitions at IAD with 8 year olds. Very cute! At the end they tried selling their artwork to us which was a little frustrating that they were still trying to have us spend money, but it was definitely some nice stuff. We got dinner back on the ship and watched the skyline of Shanghai, which was also beautiful, as we pulled away later that night. China was definitely beautiful but a very exhausting experience. Many people were tired of the culture, I enjoyed it because although it was very different, and often the people would be considered rude in the U.S, there are extraneous situations that we do not understand about their culture and the way things are there. We are definitely not the ones to judge! Only one more stop before the big crossing of the Pacific so here's to Japan and seeing Toshie!