Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is similar to Winter break in the United States and is the biggest of all celebrations in China.  Most students get off for about a month and a half while the rest of China gets off for a week.  The first day of the Lunar New Year this year fell on Sunday February 10th.  Previous students and our professors warned us that many places will be closed for the holiday because people go ‘home’ to their families to celebrate.  It seems to me that most people consider their ‘home’ to be in the place where some relative lives farthest outside of the city.  If you recall from my experience of traveling during the last government sponsored holiday, National Holiday/Mid-Autumn Festival, it is insane.  Supposedly New Year’s is EVEN more insane, so this time I decided I would stay in Chengdu.

Students started to clear out of campus the week before New Year’s as they got out of classes. (We, as foreign students, got a month and a half off in December and January so for Chinese New Year we just got the first week of the Lunar New Year off.) Wednesday and Thursday before the New Year there were less and less taxis and cars on the road and I found myself more alone on the sidewalks.  By Friday many restaurants were preparing to close up and by Saturday it felt like a ghost town…until the evening, that is.

This strip of restaurants and fruit/egg stands next to school is usually bustling with people

Saturday night was Chinese New Year’s eve and it was probably one of my favorite experiences in China thus far.  Firework stands had popped up at street corners all over the city the week prior and they have everything you can imagine.  From mortar shows, to firecrackers and roman candles, to sparklers and poppers, every stand was filled and busy selling 24 hours a day.  A few friends and I had picked up some of the fireworks we could afford and headed for a spot on the river that runs through Chengdu to set them off and watch others’ too.

Our fireworks!

We met up with our Director, Wentao (who is basically my abroad mom), and her family and they brought with them a fantastic variety box of fireworks.  The standard of safety here is not quite up to par with the US.  Fireworks are only allowed inside the city during Chinese New Year and never any other time, but there aren’t really any other rules besides that.  We only had to run for our lives from a box of tipped over mortars once, and there were only minor burn injuries and ringing ears for a week, thank goodness!

The entire two weeks of new years there were fireworks going off constantly.  At night the sky was lit up for hours and hours and during the day you had to watch your step so you didn’t walk into a line of firecrackers.  Even though the city was relatively empty compared to usual, it didn’t feel like it.  Everyone that stayed in the city was always out celebrating and the best part was that there was barely any traffic!  I really loved that I could just walk around anytime, anywhere in the city and be entertained.  You never knew exactly where something was going to explode around you, but you knew it would, and that made it so exciting.  There was only one minor disappointment.  The dragon parades that you typically see during Chinese new year in the U.S. are not common here! Wentao said they sometimes have them in the more rural areas, but not really in the city.

fireworks on the river

me!

On the last day of new years my friend Urey and I went over to our Chinese friend Kathy’s family’s apartment to celebrate.  They were so thrilled to have guests and we enjoyed a delicious meal with endless traditional Sichuan dishes.

Kathy (in blue and yellow), her family, Urey, and me after dinner

The day after the last day of new years is the Lantern Festival.  On this day, many people eat 元宵 (yuanxiao-round sweet dumplings) for good luck and set off paper lanterns into the sky.  You can write wishes on your lantern and then release it as a symbol of letting go of the past and the start of the new year!  There are also extravagant lantern displays at various parks and walking streets throughout the city.  Many of the classic lanterns are really beautiful, but some can be really tacky!

Lanterns at JinLi street…a popular attraction!

lantern tunnel

We headed downtown to the river again to set off some lanterns whereupon we quickly found out that the lanterns are illegal! Apparently there have been issues with lanterns catching buildings on fire (but I wonder why fireworks are OK then??).  Despite that, the lanterns were still scattered across the sky.  We all bought lanterns from ladies that were selling lanterns they had concealed in bags.  But after seeing a few people have their lanterns snatched out of the air (one of my friends actually has a video of this, I’ll post the link once he uploads it) or even arrested, we decided maybe we wouldn’t try to set them off…

After we opted for some roman candles and enjoyed some more fireworks, the police started to head home and we noticed more and more lanterns going off without interruption.  We decided to go for it, after all when else am I going to be able to set off a paper lantern in China?!

setting off my lantern!

success!

It’s pretty amazing what sounds I’ve gotten used to falling asleep to.  When I first arrived in Chengdu I couldn’t sleep through all the car horns and cat fights going on below my window.  Now I can tune out the booms of fireworks!  It’s going to seem eerily quiet when I head home in a month and a half. Goodnight!

Culture Shock…or not

What a busy winter break it’s been! My family came to visit and we traveled around Beijing, Xi’an, and Chengdu for two weeks.  I have one day of rest and then I’m off to Shanghai with my fellow peers for a week.  Time to do some serious catching up!

First things first-I finished my first semester abroad in China! After four months here I think it’s pretty safe to say I am familiar with the culture here, though there are some things I will never get used to.  After reading a lot about Chinese Culture and reading all the “Culture Shock” pamphlets at the Education Abroad Office at school, I expected to have a week, or a day, or even an hour of  emotional breakdown over chopsticks or squatty pottys…but that never happened.  There were, and still are, plenty of things that “shocked” me, but not to the point that I couldn’t stand it.  It has been and continues to be an eye opening experience to say the least! Here are a few things I’ve experienced so far that you might never see in the United States:

People people everywhere! This is one of those things you have to see, or be in the middle of, to believe.  There are SO many people in China!  I will never dread black Friday shopping again after going shopping on the weekend and going to tourist destinations in China.  Since there are so many people, that means you won’t get anywhere unless you push your way there.  Whether you’re headed for the cash register, a tour bus, a spot in traffic, or just trying to cross the street, you better squeeze through or else you will do nothing else in China but wait in “line”.  We went on a field trip to Bi Peng Valley and we had to take a bus to the top of the mountain.  There was a mass of people all trying to be the first to get on the buses, including our group of about 40.  Each time the mass of people moved forward people started cheering and shoving and pushing.  As we got closer to the front of the mass there were metal railings funneling us toward the person counting off for people to get on buses.  A few of us had the misfortune of being right next to the railing and risked dismemberment.

The mass of people waiting in “line”

Once we made it inside it got worse…

Cat trying not to get too squished

It was worth the wait to see this though!

…and this!

This tendency to push and shove your way through also makes for an exciting time driving around the city.  The median is more of a suggestion, and lanes themselves don’t really exist.  In fact, if you’re in a real hurry, just jump onto the sidewalk and you’ll get where you’re going much more quickly.  There are also a gazillion bicycles and mopeds and they drive even more recklessly than the cars and buses.  Don’t expect an apology or even any sign of acknowledgement if you get side checked by any sort of vehicle.  Merging and looking both ways before you hit the gas are pretty foreign concepts, but the horn is your best friend.  Drivers use their horn for many purposes- to let someone know the light has changed, to make sure the driver next to you knows you’re there, to change lanes, to warn pedestrians, bicyclists, rickshaws, other cars they are about to be hit, to tell someone they are driving too slow, to tell someone you are passing them, to let everyone on the main road know you are coming and not stopping, and the list goes on.  Oh, and no matter the constant flow of new construction sites popping up all over every day, just drive around it on the sidewalk until it’s finished.  It’s gonna be a bumpy ride!

Other than there just being a lot of people in general, there are also so many babies! They are seriously everywhere. I cannot walk 10 feet without seeing a cute chubby baby.  However, babies here get a lot less cute a lot faster than in the U.S.  One reason is because there are so many, but the other has to do with the lack of disposable products here in China.  That includes paper towels, swiffer pads, cleaning wipes, etc., but also diapers… Babies here don’t wear diapers, they wear butt-less pants.  That means they go whenever and wherever they need to.  These pants help to “squatty potty” train children, which is another one of my least favorite things about China…

Baby basket

there is a baby in there…

I won’t go into too much detail, but basically these toilets are like a ceramic hole in the ground.  Not the most comfortable or clean.  There are actually more public restrooms here than I have ever seen, or smelled, anywhere in the U.S.  Most of the restrooms also don’t have toilet paper or soap in them either, so you have to make sure you bring your own!

While I’m on the subject of things that gross me out and make me cringe, the pollution is definitely one of them.  In all the the cities I have been too, you rarely see anything in the sky besides the color gray.  In Beijing and Xi’an it’s all pollution.  In Chengdu it’s a mix of pollution and fog.  Breathing in all this pollution makes for a lot more coughing and sneezing…and hocking loogies.  I have never heard someone “clear their throat” like the old men and women do here.  It’s less common among the younger generations, but man, is it nasty.

Though there are a lot of gross things that happen on the streets, I was surprised to find that there are quite a number of people cleaning up those gross things.  With so many people here, they have to find a jobs for all of them and make sure the city doesn’t turn into a big pile of trash.  There are always people sweeping up trash on the streets and also a lot of people sweeping up leaves.  I’ve never seen people sweep up leaves and put them in the trash before, and everyday at that! Makes me wonder where all the leaves in the U.S. go…

I haven’t seen a lot of trash trucks but there sure are a lot of over loaded bikes and rickshaws!

Funny Chinglish Signs

The art of translation is a difficult thing to master.  In the United States, if we are going to publish something in a foreign language-a phrase on a t-shirt, a menu, a road sign, a business card, etc., we take it to a native speaker to translate or correct it before it’s final.  It would be rather embarrassing to have something get lost in translation and/or publish something that doesn’t make sense!  I wrongly assumed that all people of the world take such care with translation.  Upon coming to China I was bombarded with Chinglish.  Chinglish is EVERYWHERE.  I hear it, see it, and am even starting to speak it.  Here are a few examples that I’ve come across so far:

“chef’s balls”

“corn with mushroom pizz”

“cell phones prohibited during thunderstorms”

“No Naked Flames”

from Tony the hotel manager…

“I ❤ BJ” (Beijing…)

Cell phones again…must be important because it’s everywhere!

Emergency Xhelter

No snapping and picking.

“…has won the gold price…”

“If you have heart or brain disease please ascend the Great Wall according to your capability”

“The plants are just beginning to sprout, to walk upon them is shameful no doubt.”

“Chinese-type nutrition fast food”

“USA California Beef Noodles King Restaurant Management Limited”

“Shhh! I’m growing. Please don’t step on me.”

“I’m a penguin. Hey guys, Wooo! Check it out! I see green spacemen!”

The Chinese says “Where is Mona Lisa?” Surely not in China…?

“Ballet on the shoulders”

“Summon mouse make you happy everywhere”

“NO DRUGS!”

Xi’an

Before I came to Xi’an the only thing I knew about it was that the Terracotta Warriors were there.  Surprisingly there were many more sites to see!  My trip began with a 15 hour train ride from Chengdu to Xi’an.  It was actually really fun because our whole group from Chengdu rode the train.  On the way there it was Halloween so we ate a lot of candy, drank some baijiu, and played card games like kings and Chinese poker.  Then, we slept for a long time and when we woke up we had just about arrived.

Hard Sleeper Train! Nice and cozy.

Once we settled into the hotel we went to the city wall.  This wall is one of the oldest and best preserved city walls in China.  We rode bikes around the whole wall which took a little over an hour.  It was a really bumpy ride! But it was really neat to see the whole city and how much it has been built up around and outside the wall.

Riding bikes around the City Wall

After dark we headed to the Muslim Quarter.  It is a huge area of winding streets that are packed with street food and trinkets.  The street food in Xi’an is much better than any of the restaurant food we had (except the dumplings!).  They have all sorts of foods roasting in the street.  The most popular item seemed to be walnuts.  Not only were there walnuts being roasted and ground, they were also being made into bracelets and necklaces!  I also saw some sort of walnut display holders…still haven’t figured out what those were about.

Walnuts and other snacks in the Muslim Quarter

The next day was packed with historical sites.  We went to the Huaqing hot springs first.  I washed my hands in the spring, which was actually more of a luke warm spring than a hot spring.  This site is where several emperors had their palaces and enjoyed hot spring baths with their concubines.  I was surprised that there were so many pools there.  I thought there would be one or two pools for the emperor and his concubines, but there were many, including one just for the chefs! Unfortunately all of the pools and buildings there have been rebuilt and are not original.  It was however still a beautiful area and I can imagine it was great escape during the Tang dynasty.  Just behind the Huaqing springs is Mount Li, adding to the beauty of this area.  Notably, this is the mountain from where Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped.

The gardens at the Hot Springs

One of the concubines and me at the hot springs

Washing our hands in the spring

Unfortunately, many historical sites in China were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.  So, a lot of the places we have visited are either only part of the original, highly repaired, or entirely reconstructed.  The Huaqing Hot Springs for example, were under construction when we were there.

Construction at the Hot Springs

Next we went to the Terracotta Warriors!  They were fascinating.  I didn’t realize they are still doing so much excavation.  It’s hard to believe that after almost 40 years, they have only uncovered a small part of the estimated 8,000 warriors.  I also think it’s amazing that one emperor put 700,000 people to work just to have his tomb built and furnished for the afterlife.  I can’t imagine that the city that was doing these preparations was much more productive beyond the tomb construction.  If a whole city of people is working on making statues, then they aren’t making food or advancing in things like technology.  Although, it is impressive that they were able to produce all of these warriors, horses, weapons, and the tombs themselves in 36 years…and each one being unique and purposeful (at least in the afterlife)!  I learned that the construction only stopped because of uprisings about a year after the emperor’s death.  I wonder how long the construction would have gone on otherwise.  Emperor Qin’s mausoleum has yet to be excavated, but I bet that will be impressive as well.  It is rumored to be filled with precious gems and even a mercury river.  Maybe I will return to Xi’an once that is opened.

The Largest Pit of Warriors

Terracotta Warriors

Terracotta Warrior

Terracotta Horses

The site where the warriors were was actually not as I expected.  The buildings that have been built around the pits change the feeling of the whole site.  It is a bit strange to see these ancient, over 2,000 year old structures and statues inside of a modern building.  I also expected there to be many more warriors and horses uncovered.  It was actually really cool to see the archaeology digs out in the open though!

Archeology site

It still baffles me that one man was behind all this construction, and for his personal benefit!  In addition, he began the construction of The Great Wall.  I wonder what other great works he would have constructed had he lived longer or perhaps that we have yet to discover.

These people were more interested in taking pictures with the laowai (foreigner) than the Warriors…

After this we headed back into town to visit the Wild Goose Pagoda. This is also originally a Tang dynasty structure (As you may have noticed, most of Xi’an’s history is from the Tang Dynasty). Its purpose was to store Buddhist sutras and figurines that had been brought to China from India by the Monk Xuanzang.  The legend behind the name of the pagoda is that one day some of the monks who normally eat meat had nothing to eat, so they prayed to the Bodhisattva for help.  Just then a flock of geese was flying by and one of them fell from the sky with broken wings.  The monks believed this was the Bodhisattva’s doing and declared from then on they would no longer eat meat.  They then built the pagoda on the spot where the goose fell.

Girls at the Wild Goose Pagoda

We climbed up all seven stories to the top where we got to see all of Xi’an.  Like most Chinese cities, they aren’t very attractive to look at during the day time.  Much prettier at night when you can’t see all the smog and all the lights come on! Nonetheless, still cool to see how huge the city is.

Xi’an from the top of the Wild Goose Pagoda

Finally it was time for a good meal after this long day.  We went to the Dumpling Banquet and Tang Dynasty Show.  The show was traditional Tang dynasty music and dance.  The music is very different from what I am used to hearing.  It is very high pitched and a bit nasally sounding.  There were several instruments used that sounded like birds chirping, or squawking, back and forth. One guy even made that sound with his mouth,  I did not particularly enjoy that.  My favorite instruments were the drums.  I like how they sound so majestic.  The dancers wore bright colorful costumes with scarves on the sleeves that they twirled about.  There was one dance that I believe was said to reflect a painting from the Tang dynasty.   I thought that was a neat concept, I would like to see what the actual painting looks like!

Dancers at the Tang Dynasty Show

Musical performers at the Tang Dynasty Show

Unfortunately we had to wait until after the show to eat our dumplings because I think there was some confusion with our reservation…  But, it was well worth the wait! They brought us all kinds-pork, tomato, mushroom, shrimp, fish, veggie, and the list goes on! I couldn’t eat all of them but I really wanted to try all of the different flavors so at one point I just had to eat half dumplings.  I can’t wait to go back and try more flavors!

Dumplings!

The dumplings put us all right to sleep but got us refreshed for another full day of activities.  Our first stop on Saturday was the Stele Forest/Xi’an Beilin Museum.  The museum houses stone sculptures and stone tablets that exhibit calligraphy, painting, and historical records.  There were many really interesting steles, including one that was China’s first monograph on the meaning of words-one of the world’s first dictionaries!  Others were prescriptions to cure an upset stomach, the Analects of Confucius, and images of Confucius, bamboo and mountains.

A man making prints of the steles

There were some stone tablets that had such elaborate calligraphy on them that they were difficult even for our professor to read.  At one point, one of my classmates mentioned that it reminded him of Japanese writing, to which my professor immediately retorted “NO! The Japanese like our calligraphy.” Oops!

From there we headed to a small village outside of Xi’an called Yuan Village.  According to our class packet, the village is known for being the “ecosystem life experience site”.  I think that’s a combination of Chinglish and bologna.  There were many workshops with crafty jewelry and baskets, homemade food, and games.   There was also a neat stone pepper mill powered by a mule.  I have not been able to find much on the history of this village, I have a feeling it is just there to absorb tourist money…

Stone pepper mill

We traveled up the mountain near the Yuan village to the Qianling Mausoleum.  The mausoleum is located on the beautiful Mount Liang with an impressive pathway that leads up to the tombs called the ‘spirit way’.  There are countless statues of giant horses, lions, ostriches, and guardians and officials.

The Spirit Way up to the Qianling Mausoleum

Mount Liang

Just on the other side of Mount Liang we visited some traditional cave dwellings that are carved into the hillside.  The “yaodong”, or house caves, are common in the Loess Plateau-which means they are easy to dig, but scary because Loess is highly erodible!  The dwellings are built either by carving out a hillside or by excavating a ‘sunken courtyard’, otherwise known as eroded land.  A huge benefit of the yaodong is that the earth is very insulating, so even in this very Northern part of China, very little heating is required in the winter and it stays cool in the summer as well.  The first yaodong date from the Bronze Age, but they are still widely used today.

Cave dwelling

Note: Some pictures are mine, but I have to give credit to my friends for many of them. Thanks! 🙂

Hong Kong!

This year China’s National Holiday and the Mid Autumn Festival fell on the same week.  National Holiday is always October 1st, and the Mid Autumn Festival is the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which was September 30th this year.  Since the holidays were so close together and both are ‘public’ holidays, everyone had a full week off! National Holiday is similar to Independence Day in the United States.  There are firework displays and “Golden Week” sales in all the stores.  Mid Autumn Festival celebrates the end of the fall harvest.  The moon is biggest and brightest on the 15th day of each lunar month and the eighth month is when crops are ripe and the weather is the best.  Mooncake pastries are eaten and lanterns are set off into the night sky.  Mooncakes come in countless flavors but the most common are lotus seed and red bean paste.  My personal favorite so far is the green tea and mung bean flavored one.   Many people in China travel home to their parent’s or grandparent’s house for the holiday.  Since that’s a bit far for us as international students, we were scattered all over China.  A few girlfriends and I decided to celebrate in Hong Kong!

Traveling to Hong Kong was pretty convenient, at least on the way there (I’ll explain later).  We flew an hour and a half to Guangzhou and then took a two hour train ride into Hong Kong.  We started off the trip by meeting up with one of the girl’s cousins for dinner in SoHo (South of Hollywood Road).  I had a delicious salad with fresh tiger prawns on top.  After that we explored the area around the Central-Mid-levels escalator, the longest outdoor escalator in the world.  We got our nails done, enjoyed some real coffee (!!), and shopped.  Unfortunately Hong Kong is much more expensive than the rest of China, and the US for that matter.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves and ate a lot of dim sum!

The salon where we got our nails done and a tiny piece of the escalator

The next day was National Holiday and we rode cable cars into the mountains to see the Big Buddha.  It was this day that I started to understand why some people say don’t travel on Chinese holidays.  We waited in line for almost 3 hours for the 25 minute ride in the cable cars to the top where we fought crowds to climb the steps up to the Buddha.  Once finished with the spectacular mountainous view of Lantau Island we waited in line yet again to go back down.

Riding the cable car into the mountains

Looking up at Big Buddha

Big Buddha!

Smaller statues surrounding Buddha

View from the cable car

After that we headed into Kowloon to catch the fireworks for National Holiday.  They were held in Victoria Harbor and they were amazing! Definitely the best fireworks I have ever seen.  They were so big and colorful, they came in fun shapes I had never seen and the show was almost 20 minutes long! As if this day wasn’t long enough, we headed to the famous Lan Kwai Fong bar district after the show.  It was much different than what I expected having already been to Chengdu’s Lang Kwai Fong. In Hong Kong there are many more people hanging out on the street and the environment is much more chill, whereas in Chengdu it is a bunch of really fancy clubs.

We had a lazy morning following that day and woke up in time for a dim sum brunch.  We went to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, which is exactly that.  We took a little ferry past some pretty gigantic yachts to the restaurant where we indulged on cha siu bao, ha gao, and wontons.

taking the ferry to Jumbo Floating Restaurant

Dim Sum- Ha Gao

Dim Sum- Wontons

Full and Happy!

Jumbo Floating Restaurant!

We spent the afternoon at Victoria Peak where enjoyed a fantastic view of Hong Kong.  On one side of the peak is Victoria Harbor where there is a beautiful skyline of the city, and on the other is a scenic view.  It’s even better at night when all the city lights come on!

Scenic view from Victoria Peak

Victoria Harbor/Hong Kong Skyline

The Harbor at night!

We ventured on a ferry over to Macau the next day. The weather was absolutely beautiful.  80’s and sunny! First stop was Largo do Senado which was the city center when Macau was a Portuguese colony.  The architecture was very colorful and the streets were paved with pretty tiles.

pretty colors in Largo do Senado

Largo do Senado

The crowds started to get to us rather quickly though and we couldn’t resist going to the beach in the beautiful weather! We headed to the “Black Sand” beach.  The sand wasn’t exactly black, and the water was littered with trash…but it was still a beach! It was nice to get some sun and seashells.

“Black Sand” beach. note- everyone is fully clothed..

Macau beers at the beach! Much tastier than Chinese beer.

Next stop was the casinos.  None of us had really gambled before, so this turned out to be a little more difficult than we expected.  First of all, the environment of the casinos in Macau are nothing like the ones in the U.S. (from what I’ve heard). We dressed up in heels and dresses to find out that everyone else was wearing t-shirts and jeans.  We also discovered that gambling is much more serious here.  It doesn’t seem to be about having a good time, it’s really about making money.  Also, the Chinese believe in luck, so the approach to gambling is much different.  At the Venetian we tried to join in a couple of table games but since the dealers only spoke Cantonese and other players seemed to be getting frustrated with us, we headed for the slots.  Those were in Chinese too, but still much easier to figure out.  We won some, lost some, and then decided to get some dinner.  We got there at the perfect time because during happy hour they serve free filet Mignon sandwiches! I enjoyed a chocolate martini with my sandwich. 🙂

The Venetian, Macau

We spent our last day at Disneyland in Hong Kong.  Many people had warned us that it’s “the worst of the Disneylands”.  I disagree! I don’t think any Disneyland could be described as being bad in any way.  The biggest difference I noticed was that the castle was really small and they didn’t have any of the Disney characters walking around.  There were a few of the classics like Mickey and Goofy standing in gazebos, but unfortunately no princesses.  Other than that it was great! We spent the day on rides and ate food there you could never get at another Disneyland- dim sum!

Disneyland Hong Kong! With pumpkins for Halloween 🙂

Disneyland!

Me!

After a wonderful vacation away from Chengdu, we were excited to go back.  But going back was not quite as easy as getting there.  We got to the train station only to find out that ALL train tickets to Guangzhou were sold out for the day.  This was a big problem because we had a flight to catch in Guangzhou! We desperately tried to figure out if there was another way.  We took the metro to another train station that was right on the border of Hong Kong and the Guangdong province.  Here, we had to shove our way through customs while being cursed at and spit on.  After we finally made it to the other side of the border we scrambled to get tickets for a train that would arrive in time for our flight.  Once our train started to board, we again had to push and shove our way through because not everyone had assigned seats.  We had a lovely hour and a half train ride complete with screaming children.  Upon arriving in Guangzhou we rushed to get a cab to the airport.  We were relieved to finally be at the airport, only to find out we had all mixed up the time of our flight… We had been thinking all along that our flight was at 10:20…  We got to the airport at 8:25 and our flight left at 8:20.  Damn.

Fortunately, for a small fee we were able to get another flight that would leave at 1 pm the next day.  We had had enough of traveling and trying to get to the airport so we figured we would just spend the night there.  Little did we know, airports in China close! We were chased out and shuffled into a shuttle to a sketchy hotel.  The manager assured us we would have a nice stay as he handed us his business card…

Tony the Manager

from Tony…

Needless to say we got on the first shuttle back to the airport the next morning.  We finally made it back to Chengdu later that afternoon.  Exhausted, but relieved.  There were a few times we doubted we would ever make it back!  Through all the ups and downs however, this vacation is one to remember.  Great memories and lessons learned!

waiting for our flight home

Note: photo credit goes to my friend Urey! I left my camera in a cab in Hong Kong 😦

Chengdu

I was really nervous about studying abroad in Chengdu before I came here.  I had never even heard of the city, nor do most people who live outside of China, and I’ve never lived more than 25 minutes from home.  I was even more nervous about spending a whole year there when we got to Beijing and some of the previous years students told us that the humidity is way worse in subtropical Chengdu than Beijing.  I also was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the city life.  However, when we first got here the weather was perfect and actually less humid than Beijing.  I think we got lucky that we came right as summer ended and the weather cooled down.  The city is still a VERY big city (over 14 million people!), but it is much cleaner and you can see the clouds!  The aspects of city life that drove me crazy at first-constant honking and stinky streets- are quickly becoming less noticeable, and our closed off little campus makes me feel much more comfortable (it’s probably about a quarter of the size of UMD).  The campus at my university, Southwest University for Nationalities, is also gorgeous.  There are some garden areas, soccer fields, and a whole court full of ping pong tables.  So far, so good!

Southwest University for Nationalities Campus

Ping Pong tables in the middle of campus

Our dorms are also much nicer than I expected, however I noticed that as study abroad students our dorms are considered apartments and they have more amenities than the other student’s dorms.  I have a room to myself with an air conditioner/heater, furniture, and a bathroom with hot water.  I have a language partner who also goes to my university and she said that in her dorm there are 6 girls in a room the same size as mine and they don’t have hot water!

It’s very popular, and extremely easy, for English speakers to get a job here.  It’s also a great experience to see what it’s like working in another country, so I hopped on the bandwagon.  I am teaching English to a 5 year old girl named Apple twice a week for an hour.  She is so precious! But, I’ve discovered it is almost impossible to keep a 5 year old’s attention on the alphabet for an hour.  It has really been a challenge for me to learn how to teach, but I love it! It’s so rewarding to see her make progress and remember things like how to write her name 🙂

We’ve taken a few field trips so far, the most exciting of which was the Panda Research Institute!  There were SO many pandas! There were giant pandas, baby pandas, and red pandas.  My favorite were the baby pandas that were probably a few months old because they looked the most fluffy and soft.  The giant pandas were really cute too, but they are too lazy.  They just rolled around their enclosures or hung out in trees while we snapped hundreds of pictures of them.  The red pandas were much more active, climbing all over the place, but they aren’t nearly as cute.

Group Picture at the Panda Research Institute

me and some lazy pandas

lazy panda

lazy panda in a tree

red panda

red panda climbing a tree

red panda climbing around

We also watched a video at the Panda Institute that talked about the difficulty of raising pandas.  The bamboo they eat does not give them enough nutrients, so they just lay around all day to preserve their energy.  Baby pandas are all naturally born premature, so it’s very rare that they survive in the wild.  They are also important for “Panda Diplomacy”, where China gives pandas as diplomatic gifts to other countries.  It’s interesting that this big fluffy animal that probably can’t survive on it’s own anymore has such a huge cultural and worldly significance.  They really are not very fascinating, just adorable!

A not-that-cute baby panda

a really cute baby panda

the cutest panda

I’ve also been pretty busy with class (oh yeah, that’s why I’m here!).  I’m in an advanced Chinese language course but I feel like I’m not learning very much there.  The real learning happens when I get in a taxi or when I try to order food.  Not only do people talk really fast and sometimes mumble, but they speak a different dialect here.  The Sichuan dialect has some major differences from Mandarin, but I’m starting to catch on.  It’s similar to the difference between Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish, or British English and Australian English.  They pronounce things differently and even have some different words, but eventually you learn to understand both.

As for my other classes, I have Anthropology: Women in China, Chinese Economy, and Sichuan Cuisine.  So far, cuisine is my favorite and we haven’t even cooked anything yet! But we’ve learned all about various Chinese cuisines and spices and I can’t wait to make my very own Kung Pao Chicken and wrap dumplings! 😛

View from a bridge near campus in Chengdu

Beijing!

After about 24 hours of traveling from Dulles Airport all the way to Beijing, I finally arrived in China! But from then on it has been non-stop touring and excitement for 2 weeks.  Things have finally started to calm down since I got to Chendgu, but I have a lot of catching up to do with blogging.
My first reaction when we got to Beijing was “Wow look at all the pretty trees and flowers they’ve planted in the middle of a huge city!” My second reaction, seconds later, was “Wait a minute…why can’t I see the sun or the clouds? Am I in a greenhouse?”  After a couple days of being outside sweating all day, yet my skin showing no sign of the sun, I decided Beijing is not the place for me.  There were a TON of fantastic places I saw, but the filth and the smog are just some things my suburb blood can’t deal with.  Regardless, I still had a great time and saw some of the world’s most famous sights.
We began the week with a trip to Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City.  Unfortunately we didn’t have a tour guide so I didn’t get to learn much more than I already know about the two sights (except that there are loads of cameras all over Tian’anmen!).  Our Resident Director, Wentao, said that she used to lead everyone around and share information, but she found that she was wasting her breath because most people wanted to go off and explore on their own.  I soon found out however, that if I just stay near her, she will answer any questions we have and pour interesting facts into our ears anyway!
A few people paid to go see Mao Zedong‘s preserved body, but I figured I’d be fine without having that memory.  I prefer the colorful architecture and gardens to shriveled political leaders.  We also went to the Temple of Heaven that day, which is where many Emperors would go to pray for good harvest.

Me and my friend Joanna in Tian’anmen Square

The Imperial Garden in the Forbidden City

Temple of Heaven

Prayer Offerings for Good Harvest in the Imperial Vault of Heaven

After that we went to the nightmarish Pearl Market.  They have everything you can imagine buying (except food) and it’s all fake!  Longchamp bags, Beats by Dre headphones, and pearls fill the walls and are stacked on tables that are too close together.  Every merchant claims to “give you good price!” or have a “special price just for you!”, but really they mean they hope to rip you off worse than the last guy.  Wentao (our RD), said that if someone starts with a price of 2000 yuan (about $300.00USD), you can and should bargain it down to 200 yuan (about $30.00USD).  I tried my luck a few times trying to get a (fake-probably glass) jade bracelet but couldn’t find one that I both liked, fit over my “big hands”, and that I could bargain down for less than 550 yuan (about $85.00USD).  I left empty handed, but satisfied that I didn’t get ripped off as some of my classmates did.

Part of Floor 1 in the Pearl Market (There are 5 floors!)

The next day we went to the Great Wall! It was awesome. The whole way up to the top people were shouting “jiayou!”, which literally means “add oil”, but it is a term for encouragement to keep going.  After about 45 minutes of climbing up very steep, worn, and uneven stairs, we made it to the top of the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall.  We could see mountains for miles, without any smog in the way either! Going back down the wall was just as difficult as climbing up.  It was really hard on my knees and since I had just climbed up all those stairs, my quads and calves were shaky and sore.  Despite all the sweat, I would totally do it again just for the view.

Breathtaking view from the top!

Friends at the top!

Looking down at other parts of the Great Wall

From there we headed to the Ming Tombs.  Much of the tombs and artifacts unfortunately are replicas because they either decayed or were not originally preserved well.  However, even the replicas of the gold, silk, and jade pieces were impressive.  As for the single underground tomb we went in, it is larger than my house and many people have left piles of money on the

Emperor’s throne and coffin.

An Empress’ Coronet with 9 Phoenixes and 9 Dragons at the Ming Tombs

One of the Emperor’s Silk Jackets from the Ming Tombs

That evening we went to an acrobatics show.  There were countless acts, each one so exciting!  The most impressive was the big round metal cage that started with just one motorcycle zooming around inside, and ended with a total of 7! There was also a pyramid of women on top of a moving bicycle, a woman twirling umbrellas on her feet and palms,  a goofy clown, and much more!

Acrobats

On our last guided day in Beijing we went to the Summer Palace and the Silk Market.  The Silk Market is like the Pearl Market on steroids.  There are more floors, more vendors, and more fake stuff.  The vendors there are also more aggressive.  I gave in and bargained for a fake Longchamp bag in bright pink.  It has been very useful for class 🙂

The Summer Palace is one of my favorite places so far because it so beautiful! It sits on Kunming Lake which is dotted with dragon boats and full of lily pads and Lotus flowers.  I never knew lotus flowers were so big! They are about 7-8 inches in diameter and their stem reaches almost 5 feet off the water.  The root of the lotus can also be eaten (which I have done-yum!).  If I was an Empress think I would surround myself with lotus flowers too. Food, water, and gorgeous scenery…sounds good to me!

View from the Top of the Tower of Buddhist Incense at the Summer Palace

Lotus Flower at the Summer Palace

Me and Tong at the Summer Palace

Kunming Lake with Dragon Boats, Lily Pads, and Lotus Flowers

Group Picture at the Summer Palace

We had a free day at the end of a very long week.  I revisited the Silk Market and most of us ventured into the bar district in Beijing for the evening.  It was nice to be able to finally relax now that my body clock is adjusted.  We had a round of “Duck’s Ass” shooters (Kahlua, Bailey’s, and vodka)-no idea why it’s called that- and a few tasteless Chinese beers.  Then we hopped on yet another plane for Chengdu, this time only a 2.5 hour ride.  Stay tuned for my next posts about Culture Shock and Chengdu!

To bring, or not to bring? That is the question.

I’ve finished my internship for the summer, gotten my visa and vaccines, and even had a 一路平安 (Bon Voyage) party with most of my family and closest friends.  Yet, it still has not hit me that I’ll be leaving the country in 5 days for 9 months. The farthest I’ve ever lived away from home is 20 minutes down the road at my dorm on the University of Maryland campus.  Even when I’m there it’s nice to know that when I need groceries Mom is only a text or phone call away.  I was fortunate enough this summer to have an internship where my project was to build a training guide on Chinese Culture.  At times, my stomach would start to turn at the thought of Stinky Tofu or the Chinese style toilets.  I won’t have the luxury of an emergency “get me out of here” text nor public bathroom cleanliness standards, but right now the biggest of my worries is packing.

How will I fit 9 months and 4 seasons of clothing, toiletries, and books into this…

I have 4 vacuum sealed bags to shove clothes into and have given up on trying to make either of my suitcases weigh less than 50 pounds.  I already know there are things I don’t have room for that I’m planning to buy in China.  Sheets and towels are major necessities, but also take up way too much space.  Not to mention I don’t know what size my bed in the International Dorm will be anyway.  I’ve been told to just bring the basics, plain items that can be mixed and matched easily.  Well, ‘plain’ is pretty well hidden in the webs of my lexicon.  My closet is filled with sparkles and bright colors, and soon my suitcase will be too.  After all, it’s not like I’ll be able to blend very well in China, so why try?

…when I own this many shoes alone?

My packing list is about 4 pages long and so far I’ve got half of page one into one large vacuum seal bag.  I have some serious work ahead of me for the next 5 days.  My saving grace is that I can always buy things when I get there, and in fact it will probably be much cheaper to buy 15 more pairs of shoes in China than to pay for another checked bag or a FedEx shipment.  I just hope they have my size!