China

Our flight from Hong Kong left in the early afternoon on Wednesday, April 18th, but with a group of over 70 SASers we had to leave for the airport around 9am. The drive on the bus was great; it gave us a glimpse of more of Hong Kong. I really want to come back to further explore this place, as I do in other places I have been. While waiting to board we watched CNN to get more information about VT. It was still raw, which I am sure will be the situation for some time. The flight was uneventful, which was good. We landed in Beijing and quickly got onto a bus for the hour ride to Peking University to meet with students and have dinner. The bus ride was fun to take in the sights. The city is extremely excited for the upcoming Olympics as it should be. We were able to see the building where the opening ceremonies will be held and there were official clocks around the city counting down the days until August 2008. Around 6 pm we went to a restaurant for some interesting Chinese cuisine. Some of the dishes were good, however let me just say that the Chinese food served at home is very different than the authentic food. After dinner we went to Peking University to meet our host students. The evening was cool, a refreshing break from the intense heat we have experienced in all the countries prior. The students were so excited to meet us and show us their campus. This university is among the top institutions in China and is comparable to Harvard and MIT. Needless to say, these students told us that all of their free time was spent studying and most were in the medical or engineering fields. The campus was beautiful, even at night. We walked around a small lake and took in the traditional style buildings that decorated the nicely manicured landscape. After about an hour tour we said goodbye until tomorrow and went to check into our hotel. The Beijing Post and Telegraph Center would be our home for the next three nights…and it was an adventure in itself. I guess the best way to illustrate this place is to say that the hostel that I stayed at in South Africa was a five star accommodation compared to this place. But we made the best of it as the experience is always more important.

On Thursday we had breakfast at the hotel, more rice and eggs. I was so excited to see that there was milk. I couldn’t wait to have a big gulp…but as I grabbed a glass I almost burned my hand, the milk was hot! I will be a good sport and try new things but this is one thing that I couldn’t bring myself to do! After breakfast we gathered back on the bus and headed to visit a cloisonné factory, a type of artwork that is native to China. It was pretty interesting; we were able to see people making different objects such as vases, jewelry, and sculptures. Following that we visited the Ming Tombs where 14 of the 16 Ming Dynasty emperors and empresses are buried. The grounds above the tombs covered a large area which was filled with trees and other plants. Descending down about 10 flights of stairs was quite a task but once we got to where the tombs were it was incredible. China has such a long history and to be able to be in the same vicinity as the majority of China’s past rulers was mind-boggling. When we left the Ming Tombs we went to lunch at Dayi Restaurant. The food was better here, a little more familiarity with sweet and sour pork and spring rolls. We had to fill up though because after lunch we went to climb the Great Wall. This was by far the high point of my time in China. Our day was not very clear but as our bus approached the Great Wall I could instantly see and feel its splendor. We arrived at one area where were to begin our hike. Our guide informed us that it would take two hours to climb up and back down so we scrambled off the bus and hit the stairs. The pictures do not do it justice, but is surprisingly steeper than we anticipated. We were all a little winded about half way up but it added to the experience. It was overwhelming to realize that I was ascending up the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall! I was finally here after all this time. I had a huge smile on my face the entire time as did all the SASers. We stopped at various points for pictures however I know a few pictures stops were opportunities to catch a quick breath. The stairs were very small, definitely made for people with smaller feet. They were also very far apart making the incline that much more challenging. Once we reached the very top of this section we gathered to take it all in. It was really special because after a few moments of looking around we all got silent. The awe of being on the Great Wall finally sank in. Various emotions overcame me at that moment. I thought about where I was and what I have seen and done up to this point. I felt truly humbled and grateful. I even called the family and woke them up at 3 am to let them know that I was on top of the Great Wall! Reluctantly, we began our climb done. Again we were all a little more quiet, either to take time to meditate or because of exhaustion. At the bottom, I saw a camel. Yes, I said a camel. I know, it was strange for me too. However, it was there and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to ride a camel while at the base of the Great Wall. I mean, how many people can be able to do that! So I paid 20 Yuen ($3) to ride Yeni the camel for about 5 minutes but it was well worth it. I climbed on top and sat between her two humps. The last time I was on a camel was when I was four and I forgot how comfortable they ride, like a regular ‘ol Cadillac! After I said my goodbye to Yeni and the Great Wall we headed back to the University for dinner and a party with the students. Dinner was filling as all the meals have been. The party afterwards was fun; we had a little game of limbo and other contests. It became obvious to the SASers that these students don’t get out much or they really like limbo!

On Friday we had breakfast again at the hotel. Our first stop was at the Temple of Heaven which is situated in the largest park in all of Beijing. We had time to explore the main temple and other buildings of the complex. It was another grand sight with some of the most beautiful Chinese architecture I have seen. We strolled through an area where people played games and practiced Tai Chi. There was a large group of people congregated around pieces of paper so we thought we would check it out. We couldn’t figure out what they were doing. Thankfully a British man explained to us that this was a location for Chinese people to meet a prospective husband or wife. The papers were actually ads describing their families and what they wanted in a partner. I guess this was China’s version of Match.com! We met up with the rest of the group but decided to skip lunch. We found out that the Temple of Heaven was near the infamous Pearl Market where strands of fresh and salt water pearls are incredibly inexpensive. About five of us girls walked to the market and spent over an hour browsing and purchasing pearls. The factory was huge, literally floor after floor of pearl vendors. We met back up with the group at Tiananmen Square. This was one of the most interesting sights to learn about in Global Studies. We watched a documentary about the Tank Man in the spring of 1989. Everyone should know about this significant historical event. We went into the Forbidden City but took pictures including a group one in front of Chairman Mao’s memorial hall. This palace is the largest and most complete of China’s existing palaces and the former residence of 24 emperors. A few of us left the group at that time to take a taxi back to the hotel. It was an hour ride with traffic. The number of cars in Beijing is countless. We were able to rest before dinner. We didn’t make it on time to meet with the group because of traffic…so we stopped at McDonald’s. It was actually a nice break. We did make it to the acrobatic show which was phenomenal! The stunts that the performers did seemed impossible but they made them look too easy. They did flips through rings of fire and 15 people artistically rode a single bike. Everyone should see these pictures…incredible! That night we hit the town. We went to an area of bars and restaurants that surrounded a gorgeous lake. There weren’t that many people out but we had an exciting night nonetheless. We first shared a stick of sugared strawberries. They were delicious, however dangerous. Katie, not me, cut her finger from the crystallized sugar. And from then on it got even more interesting. We went into a bar called Sex and Da City, catchy name. They led us to an area where a table was but it was more like a bed with pillows and a little table. It was fun until we got yelled at by a pole dancer. This is such a crazy story but we were upstairs taking pictures of the bed/table because it was so funny. Well the pole dancer thought we took a picture of her and she got a little upset…we actually have no idea what she said since she spoke Chinese but we could tell it wasn’t good! Then we ordered wine but it turned out to be more water than wine. With that we figured we hit three strikes so we called it a night. All in all we had a great time; it was fun to recap the next morning on all the craziness!

Saturday, our last day in Beijing, began with breakfast at the hotel again. We weren’t too sad to leave the hotel though. We spent the morning touring the Summer Palace which is a large area that was built for the emperor and empress for rest and relaxation. It reminded me a lot of home with buildings encircling a large and beautiful lake. The trees were so green and flowers were blooming. The sense of spring was everywhere. Our last stop at the Palace was at the large Marble Boat. We took a boat, a wooden one, across the lake to get back to our bus. It was very relaxing and made me think of home even though Chinese influence surrounded me. Back on the bus we departed for the airport for our flight to Qingdao. Most of us took advantage of the hour and a half to rest from the past few days of nonstop activity. However, I wouldn’t have it any other way. We only have so much time in each port and taking advantage of every moment and every opportunity is vital. We landed in Qingdao and got onto another bus to get to the ship. Another group of SASers was on our flight so our bus driver and theirs raced to get to the dock. We won, but after almost going off the road ourselves. I know we cut off a few cars, notably a van of government officials! That night we walked around downtown but had to cut the night short. ATM cards as well as VISA were not accepted anywhere and many of us didn’t have any Yuen left.

Sunday was our last day in China. Many of us stayed on the ship. The weather wasn’t very good and like the night before many didn’t have Yuen left. It was perfect though, I finally got to sleep in and catch up on some rest. The Explorer set sail for Kobe at exactly 11 pm. I couldn’t believe we only had one last country before we are home in the States. I remember the Bahamas like it was last week. I had to stop thinking about the fact that this experience was coming to a close because we still have Japan…and I felt like we were going to go out with a bang…